The Impact of a Nurse-Led Educational Intervention on the Self-Care Behaviors of Patients with Heart Failure

• Main Author: Price, Cindy
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Nursing
• ISBN: 9781339108216; 1339108216

The purpose of this study was to identify the impact of a nurse led educational intervention on the self-care behaviors of patients with heart failure. Meleis’s Situational-Health and Illness Transitional Theory provided the framework for this quasi-experimental study. A purposive sample of 32 patients completed the study. The Self-Care of Heart Failure Index (SCHFI v6.2) was utilized to measure self- care behaviors. The aim was to measure subcategories of self-care maintenance, self- care management, and self-care confidence at baseline, prior to the nurse-led educational intervention and again after 30 days. Pretest/ posttest comparison of means revealed that self-care scores improved in all subcategories (maintenance 65.09 vs 71.34, respectively; management 48.75 vs 58.75, and confidence 70.89 vs 73.14). The subcategory of self-care maintenance improvement was statistically significant (p<0.01; p=0.009). Results of this study found that adequate self-care behaviors were performed in the subcategories of maintenance and confidence (Mean Scores >70). Self –care management remained suboptimal (Mean Scores <70; 48.75 vs 58.75, respectively). Future studies should investigate interventions that promote and measure self-care management for heart failure patients.