Heart Failure Patients' Experiences of Living with Heart Failure
Open Access
- Author:
- Liss, Katherine Marie
- Area of Honors:
- Nursing
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Science
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Dr. Lisa Ann Kitko, Thesis Supervisor
Harleah Graham Buck, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- Heart failure
lived experience
unmet needs
patient - Abstract:
- Background: Currently 5.7 million Americans are living with heart failure. However, little is known about the patients’ experiences and perceptions of living with this unpredictable illness. Purpose: To understand the physical, emotional, and psychological impact of living with heart failure has on patients. Methods: A descriptive study with a secondary thematic analysis of qualitative interviews of heart failure patients from a longitudinal study of heart failure patients and their caregivers [AHA, 2006/2008 (Hupcey PI)]. Results: Initial interviews of 20 heart failure patients, ranging from age 62-79 years, were used as the sample in this analysis. During the inductive analysis process, the overarching theme emerging from the data was that patients accepted the diagnosis of heart failure and identified a new sense of self in the process. Four subthemes supported this finding: changes in quality of life, uncertainty, hope, and importance of the caregiver role. This study found that patients ultimately accepted living with heart failure. However, many patients experienced changes in their quality of life, uncertainty, hope, and verbalized the importance of their caregiver’s roles throughout the process of accepting heart failure. Conclusions: Future studies are needed on the patient/caregiver dyads with interventions aimed at supporting the dyads as they learn to live with this chronic illness.