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Using vignettes to understand heart failure self‐care
Author(s) -
Xu Jiayun,
Arruda Sofia,
Gallo Joseph J,
Wenzel Jennifer,
Nolan Marie T,
Flowers Deirdre,
Szanton Sarah L,
Dennison Himmelfarb Cheryl,
Han HaeRa
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of clinical nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1365-2702
pISSN - 0962-1067
DOI - 10.1111/jocn.14581
Subject(s) - medicine , perspective (graphical) , qualitative research , health care , self care , heart failure , self management , nursing , social science , artificial intelligence , sociology , computer science , economics , economic growth , machine learning
Aims and objectives To explore hospitalised heart failure ( HF ) patients' self‐care decisions. Background Heart failure self‐care is integral to maintain and manage health, and may prevent unnecessary HF hospitalisations. Nevertheless, self‐care remains challenging for patients, and using vignettes offer a new perspective to understand patient HF self‐care decision‐making. Design This qualitative descriptive analysis was conducted as part of a mixed methods study. Methods We conducted semi‐structured interviews ( N = 20) to elicit patient decisions about self‐care in responses to three vignettes, which varied in symptom severity. Content analysis was used to extract quotes describing participant responses. Results Participants were on average 60 years old, primarily male, African American, unemployed and highly symptomatic ( NYHA Class III or IV ). Overall, participants were able to identify when symptoms required a decision to seek urgent medical attention, but had difficulty identifying the appropriate decision to make in response to less acute symptoms such as swelling. Conclusions Symptoms other than shortness of breath were challenging for patients to interpret and manage appropriately. Understanding how to apply HF knowledge to alleviate symptoms was also difficult. Relevance to clinical practice Vignettes may be a helpful tool to prompt patient–healthcare provider communication about self‐care management and prompt discussions about appropriate self‐care decisions in response to varying levels of symptom severity.