Development of discharge information for recovery after coronary artery bypass surgery

Descriptions of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) recovery experiences were elicited for development of a preparatory discharge information intervention. A convenience sample of 15 men and 5 women were interviewed about the concerns, emotions, and physical sensations they experienced after CABG and the actions they found most useful to manage the recovery at three time points: (a) discharge; (b) 2 days after discharge; and (c) 3 weeks after discharge. Concerns of subjects centered on pain management and return to independence in activities of daily living. Reports of negative emotions increased over the first month of recovery and included depression, anger, and anxiety. Subjects most frequently reported physical sensations associated with fatigue, chest incision, sleeping, leg incision, shoulder and neck muscles, and coughing. Descriptions of the CABG recovery experience provided data for development of discharge information, that focused on concrete experiences from the viewpoint of the person having CABG surgery and included orienting information about the onset, sequence, and duration of the experiences.