Abstracto

′′I want to continue living for at least a few more years′′− health in relation to cardiac surgery among fragile patients.

Carina Hjelm, Jenny Eskilsson, Susanna Agren

Background: Increased knowledge of how fragile patients undergoing heart surgery experience their health can provide opportunities to improve nursing of these patients. The intensive care nurse's adequate knowledge of the patient's life situation becomes an important prerequisite for providing person-centred care. Objective: To explore how fragile patients experience health, worry and anxiety in connection with heart surgery. Method: Qualitative interview study with a semi-structured interview guide. Narrative analysis method with an inductive approach was applied to empirical data from four participants. Findings: The analysis resulted in three themes: The Importance of Heart Surgery, The importance of Relationship`s and Shaping Life Events. These themes reflect the experience of heart surgery in the context of each patient’s life situation. Conclusion: Cardiac surgery is an opportunity to regain physical health and improve survival. Worry and anxiety were associated with the patient’s life situation and the patient's ability to handle it, and was unlikely to be related to the heart surgery itself. The fragile patient's relationships facilitated rehabilitation after cardiac surgery and had a strengthening effect on recovery.