A comparison of the preoperative concerns of open heart surgery patients and their significant others

This article reports the findings of research about the concerns of open heart surgery (OHS) patients and their significant others (SOs) during the preoperative in-hospital waiting period. Concepts from the Roy Adaptation Model for Nursing framed this study and provided a basis for recognizing the problem, constructing instruments to measure the variable, analyzing and interpreting the data, and drawing implications from the findings. A convenience sample of 21 pairs of OHS and SO subjects reported data while awaiting surgery about demographic characteristics and concerns on self-administered instruments constructed for this research. A multitude of concerns was reported by the subjects, with some similarities and some differences between the OHS patients and their SOs. Implications for practice and theory are drawn, and suggestions for research are made.