Effects of Nursing Interventions on Improving Patients With Heart Failure: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background and Purpose: Various nursing interventions can improve the treatment process of patients with heart failure. However, the effectiveness of these interventions can be different. Therefore, it is required to summarize these relationships. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the effects of various types of nursing interventions on improving patients with heart failure. Methods: Two groups of keywords were searched in five databases. After removing irrelevant articles, the required information was extracted from the remaining papers. Also, the quality level of the papers was determined using the critical appraisal tools provided by the Joanna Briggs Institute. In addition to the descriptive findings, a case-control meta-analysis was also conducted on the values of compliance and satisfaction rates reported in some studies. Results: Forty-nine papers were included in the study. The results of all studies showed that various types of nursing can effectively influence the improvement of patients with heart failure. Among these interventions, comprehensive nursing, evidence-based nursing, and continuous nursing had the highest effectiveness. However, motivational interventions, telephone interventions, educational nursing interventions, and self-care interventions despite low cost could influence patient improvement. The results showed that nursing intervention in the case group compared with the control group could significantly decrease the complication rate (-11.22 [95% CI: -13.56, -8.87]) and increase the satisfaction rate (2.46 [95% CI: 1.79, 3.12]) in the patients. Implications for Practice: It is recommended that a set of nursing intervention measures can significantly improve the physical and mental conditions of patients with heart failure.