Purpose: The purpose of this cross-sectional, descriptive study was to determine if there were specific self-care deficits among patients with heart failure at the time of discharge in an acute care setting, which may be related to a decreased quality of life.
Data sources: Patients admitted with acute, chronic congestive heart failure were recruited to complete both the Self-care of Heart Failure Index and the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure questionnaires. Data analyses were conducted to determine if there were any significant relationships between self-care abilities and quality of life.
Conclusions: Results from this study were promising as "self-care confidence" and perceived better health were found to be significantly related to improved quality of life. Heart failure is a chronic disease that requires patients to develop confidence in their self-care abilities to maintain and improve quality of life.
Implications for practice: Findings from this research study suggest that nurse practitioners need to first identify patients with heart failure who lack the self-care confidence required to manage their condition at home, and then focus on specific educational interventions to build confidence in self-care prior to discharge.