Survival factors following myocardial infarction recorded by a nurse

Sixty-five patients were followed closely by a public health nurse following coronary-care unit discharge. A clear-cut pattern was observed in which nonsurvivors had increasing objective signs of physical deterioration and more hospital admissions, but verbalized fewer complaints than survivors. The differences between the eight nonsurvivors and the survivors were significant at the 0.05 level for the observed findings. These findings have implications for organizing health-care delivery.