Patients need additional education, support and follow-up care after hospital discharge. Patients and significant others benefit from collaboration between patient associations and healthcare professional societies. Future research is needed to identify the specific challenges that women recipients face.

Sudden cardiac death is an episode of sudden death from cardiac causes in previously healthy patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the life experiences of patients who were resuscitated successfully following a sudden cardiac death. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit the nine participants through the snowball technique. Unstructured interviews were carried out until data saturation was reached. The Giorgi method of analysis, which seeks to reduce the participant's experience to minimal thematic units, common thematic groups, and essential themes in order to describe it, was used. Four essential themes were found: "facing fear"; "the search for meaning"; "feeling death up close and personal"; and "loneliness and estrangement". Nurses must integrate the lifestyle changes of patients who survive a cardiac death in order to provide adequate care following hospital discharge. Patients should undertake follow-up programs in order to receive counseling from health professionals. As a result, the creation of interdisciplinary support groups and the implementation of follow-up programs after hospital discharge are fundamental. Survivors' experiences can inform the development of nursing programs and hospital follow-up services that address the survival of cardiac death.

Provide the basis for nursing assessment after discharge, understand the effects of the device in the recipient and track the process of adapting the recipient to daily life.

Elderly recipients can end up "clinging on" to customs as they are felt to define the recipient's identity and utility within their social and personal context. Their partner is of huge significance for elderly recipients. The geriatric health personnel must contribute to promote and maintain activities of daily living in elderly. Future qualitative studies taking an in-depth look at the experience and readjustment process of elderly recipients and the relationship among older people and technological equipment should be further conducted.

IntroductionPatients with cancer frequently suffer from emotional distress, characterized by psychological symptoms such as anxiety or depression. The presence of psychological symptoms combined with the complex nature of oncology processes can negatively impact patients’ quality of life. We aimed to determine the impact of a relaxation protocol on improving quality of life in a sample of oncological patients treated in the Spanish National Public Health System.Materials and methodsWe conducted a multicenter interventional study without a control group. In total, 272 patients with different oncologic pathologies and showing symptoms of anxiety were recruited from 10 Spanish public hospitals. The intervention comprised abbreviated progressive muscle relaxation training, according to Bernstein and Borkovec. This was followed by weekly telephone calls to each patient over a 1-month period. We collected sociodemographic variables related to the disease process, including information about mental health and the intervention. Patients’ quality of life was assessed using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-General (FACT-G) questionnaire. Bivariate and univariate analyses were performed, along with an analysis of multiple correspondences to identify subgroups of patients with similar variations on the FACT-G.ResultsPatients showed statistically significant improvements on the FACT-G overall score (W = 16806; p<0.001), with an initial mean score of 55.33±10.42 and a final mean score of 64.49±7.70. We also found significant improvements for all subscales: emotional wellbeing (W = 13118; p<0.001), functional wellbeing (W = 16155.5; p<0.001), physical wellbeing (W = 8885.5; p<0.001), and social and family context (W = −1840; p = 0.037).ConclusionsPatients with cancer who learned and practiced abbreviated progressive muscle relaxation experienced improvement in their perceived quality of life as measured by the FACT-G. Our findings support a previous assumption that complementary techniques (including relaxation techniques) are effective in improving the quality of life of patients with cancer.