Abstract

Spouses of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) patients can experience overwhelming distress during their partner's recovery, yet interventions to ease this distress are limited. While spouses have the ability to help influence their partner's recovery, little assistance or counseling has been offered to the spouses. Oncology and inpatient cardiology units have found educational packets helpful in reducing spousal distress. Therefore, an evidence-based interventional project to determine if education could ease distress among the spouses of patients who have received a coronary artery stent and enrolled in outpatient CR took place at a Midwestern hospital. Participants were spouses of patients who received a coronary artery stent and recovered on the Short Stay Unit. Education materials containing information about CR and interventions to manage stress were distributed to the spouses. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Cohen-Hoberman Inventory of Physical Symptoms (CHIPS) pre and post-surveys were used to measure the degree to which the spouses perceived their lives as stressful. Paired t-tests were used to analyze the data. While the results of the data analysis were not statistically significant, there was a decrease in the means on both the PSS and the CHIPS demonstrating a decrease in distress. While there was a very small sample size for this project, it can be stated that spousal education appears to be needed to help lower stress in the CR spouse. CR spouses are vital to the recovery of their partners and should be provided with education to ease distress and assist in the recovery process of their partners.

Author Details

Kathryn A. Jelsma, DNP

Sigma Membership

Unknown

Lead Author Affiliation

Nebraska Methodist College, Omaha, Nebraska, USA

Type

DNP Capstone Project

Format Type

Text-based Document

Study Design/Type

Other

Research Approach

Translational Research/Evidence-based Practice

Keywords:

Spouse, Education, Cardiac Rehabilitation

Advisor

Foley, Linda

Degree

DNP

Degree Grantor

Nebraska Methodist College

Degree Year

2017

Rights Holder

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All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.

Review Type

Faculty Approved: Degree-based Submission

Acquisition

Self-submission

Full Text of Presentation

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