Living with an unfixable heart: a qualitative study exploring the experience of living with advanced heart failure.
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Affiliation
Clinical Nurse Specialist, Heart Failure, CResT Department, St. James Hospital,, Dublin 8, Ireland. meryan@stjames.ieIssue Date
2012-02-01T10:45:28ZMeSH
*Adaptation, PsychologicalAffective Symptoms/nursing/psychology
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
*Attitude to Health
Depression/nursing/psychology
Fear/psychology
Female
Heart Failure/*nursing/*psychology
Helplessness, Learned
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Nursing Methodology Research
Palliative Care/*methods/psychology
Severity of Illness Index
Social Support
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Eur J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2009 Sep;8(3):223-31. Epub 2009 Mar 17.Journal
European journal of cardiovascular nursing : journal of the Working Group on, Cardiovascular Nursing of the European Society of CardiologyDOI
10.1016/j.ejcnurse.2009.02.005PubMed ID
19297250Abstract
BACKGROUND: Nurses working with patients with advanced heart failure need knowledge that will help us to help patients cope with their situations of chronic illness. However, our knowledge bank is deficient due to the scarcity of inquiry that takes the affected person's point of view as its central focus. AIM: The aim of this study was to describe patients' experiences of living with advanced heart failure. METHODS: The study sample (N=9) consisted of male (N=6) and female (N=3) patients with advanced (NYHA classes III-IV) heart failure. The design was qualitative and open unstructured interviews were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim during 2006. RESULTS: Four main themes emerged: Living in the Shadow of Fear; Running on Empty; Living a Restricted life; and Battling the System. The experience of living with advanced heart failure was described as a fearful and tired sort of living characterised by escalating impotence and dependence. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that there may be an illogical but enduring ethos of 'cure' pervading health care worker's attitudes to advanced heart failure care. This mindset might be working to hinder the application of additional or alternative therapies, which might better palliate the physical and psychosocial distress of patients.Language
engISSN
1873-1953 (Electronic)1474-5151 (Linking)
ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.ejcnurse.2009.02.005
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