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Recognition and prompt response to signs and symptoms of an acute myocardial infarction are among the most important areas of patient education for nurses in any setting. This study supports the use of one-to-one teaching with rehearsal for knowledge acquisition needed by patients and families to improve the ability to recognize and respond to symptoms of a heart attack.
Patient teaching is recognized as an essential component of nursing in all settings. Patients and families at home and in acute care, rehabilitation centers, and community programs require information that enables them to engage in self-care and empowers them to make health decisions based upon accurate information. How to provide effective patient education remains unclear. While multiple patient education strategies are possible, short hospital stays, nurse multi-tasking, and concerns about cost containment make designating time for patient education a challenge. The need exists to identify patient education strategies about heart attack response which effectively provide information and address the issues of time and cost (Lutfiyya, Cumba, McCullough, Barlow, & Lipsky, 2008; Meischke, Eisenberg, Rowe, & Cagle, 2005; Morgan, 2005).
Improving the ability of individuals to recognize and respond to symptoms of a heart attack is one of the most important areas of patient education for nurses in all settings. Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States, responsible for 1 of every 2.9 deaths. Estimated incidence of myocardial infarction in 2009 was 610,000 new and 310,000 recurrent attacks; 37% of affected patients died (American Heart Association, 2009). The time between symptom onset and treatment correlates with infarct size and mortality (Johansson, Stromberg, & Swahn, 2004). While recommended time to treatment is 1 hour, a large number of patients do not receive these time-dependent treatments because of delay in seeking care. Two decisive actions a patient must take when experiencing heart attack symptoms are recognizing the symptoms as being cardiac related and seeking prompt medical care, preferably by calling 911, so therapy can begin as soon as possible (Meischke, Diehr, Rowe, Cagle, & Eisenberg, 2006; Moser et al., 2006; Shirato & Swan, 2010).
The problem of patient delay in seeking treatment for heart attack symptoms has been recognized for several decades. Prior educational efforts via the media about prompt care for heart...