[Nurses' participation in heart rehabilitation]

The goal of cardiac rehabilitation is to incorporate patients with heart disease into their physical and social activities in such conditions that will allow them to lead a normal life "as good as possible". Their psychological needs have to be addressed, since these patients on leaving the hospital are anxious and afraid of the their future. The rehabilitation team must train the patients until they reach with success phase II of the heart rehabilitation program. The nurse plays and important role since she/he is the main mentor during phase II. At the cardiac rehabilitation service of the Instituto Nacional de Cardiología "Ignacio Chávez", we worked during May, June, July of last year with 45 patients in phase II; of these, 84% were men, most between 60 and 79 years of age (60%). The most frequent diagnoses were ischemic cardiopathy (71%) and arterial hypertension (64%). The most frequent medical-surgical treatments were: thrombolytic therapy, angioplasty, and placement of stents and aortic-coronary ducts in 48%. Stratification was of high risk in 62.2%.