Identification of the perceived learning needs of balloon angioplasty patients

Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is currently well recognized as a successful treatment for some coronary artery occlusions. Minimal research is available in the literature related to the identification of the perceived learning needs of the PTCA patient population. The first objective of this study was to identify what patients' view as their learning needs when undergoing PTCA. Secondly, this study sought to compare the patients' view to the perceptions of cardiac nurses about the learning needs of PTCA patients. Two hundred and fifty-one patients and thirty-three nurses completed a PTCA Learning Needs Inventory (PTCALNI). Both the patients and the nurses scored all items "moderately" to "very important" to learn. The items "need to know the results of my angioplasty," "what to do if my heart symptoms come back," and "what lifestyle changes are needed to prevent future build-up in my arteries" were among the highest scored items for both groups. As the length of stay for angioplasty patients decreases, in-hospital education for this population must be streamlined to concisely and efficiently address the learning needs identified by patients as most important to know in relation to having a balloon angioplasty. Therefore, as a result of this survey, nurses can feel satisfied that by focusing their time on topics identified as most important, they will have met most of the educational priorities for angioplasty patients.