Cardiac nurses' preparedness to use self-help groups as a support strategy

Area of Science:

• Nursing Care
• Social Support Systems
• Patient Empowerment

Background:

• Self-help groups offer crucial empathetic support outside patients' existing social networks.
• Integrating these groups into nursing care planning is essential for comprehensive patient support.
• Understanding nurses' preparedness is key to leveraging these resources effectively.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the preparedness of cardiac nurses in utilizing self-help groups as a patient support strategy.
• To identify factors influencing nurses' willingness and ability to incorporate self-help groups into cardiac care.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative research approach.
• Semi-structured interviews conducted with 12 registered nurses from two coronary care units.

Main Results:

• Nurses' knowledge of social support, self-help groups, and patients' social circumstances significantly impacts their preparedness.
• Limited knowledge about social support and self-help groups negatively affected nurses' attitudes towards lay care and group utilization.
• Nurses generally possessed good patient social circumstance knowledge and an open attitude towards expanding their roles.

Conclusions:

• Enhanced education on innovative work methods is needed for nurses to effectively integrate informal support networks.
• Nurses require training to empower patients by connecting them with self-help groups.
• Bridging the knowledge gap regarding self-help groups can improve their integration into cardiac nursing practice.