Psychosocial adjustments of coronary artery disease patients and their spouses: nursing implications

Nurses caring for the patient with CAD are most effective when they recognize that many factors affect psychosocial adjustment to heart disease, with age and gender as two prominent influences. Likewise, spouses of patients with CAD require special attention and assessment so that their caregiving and recovery from a cardiac-related event is successful. Caregiving spouses have been found to have more mood disturbance, less satisfaction with marriage and family, and lower levels of social support than patients, suggesting that attention to their concerns is paramount.