Self-care in Adults With a Retro-auricular Left Ventricular Assist Device: An Interpretive Description.
Alessia Martina TrentaMichela LucianiMassimo MoroSara PatellaStefania Di MauroErcole VelloneDavide AusiliPublished in: Clinical nursing research (2021)
Having a retro-auricular left ventricular assist device (LVAD) requires patients to learn specific self-care behaviors, with a considerable burden; the present study aimed at exploring and describing the experience of self-care in this population. An Interpretive Description was conducted, informing the analysis with the Middle-Range Theory of Self-care of Chronic Illness. A purposeful sample of ten people with a retro-auricular LVAD participated in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Four themes were identified: Innovations and Limitations in Daily Life, Problems Detection, Response to Problems, and Learning Process. All of these were deeply influenced by a cross-cutting theme: Support System. People with a retro-auricular LVAD have self-care needs different from those of people with heart failure or with the abdominal version of the device, and there is a great need for targeted intervention that could be developed in consideration of our findings.
Keyphrases
- left ventricular assist device
- heart failure
- mental health
- end stage renal disease
- ejection fraction
- randomized controlled trial
- newly diagnosed
- chronic kidney disease
- prognostic factors
- physical activity
- patient reported outcomes
- optical coherence tomography
- atrial fibrillation
- loop mediated isothermal amplification
- real time pcr