Development of a Nursing Protocol for Hospitalized Patients with Reduced Cognitive Function in the Process of Recovery from Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Heart Failure

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop a nursing protocol aiming at early recovery of hospitalized patients with reduced cognitive functions in the process of recovery from acute exacerbation of chronic heart failure. At the first stage of the research, a draft nursing protocol was prepared based on a basic survey. At the second stage of research, a semi-structured interview was conducted for 4 nurses certified for chronic heart failure nursing and 11 nurses certified for dementia nursing so as to ensure content validity of the draft nursing protocol. At the third stage of the study, the possibility of clinical application of the nursing protocol revision plan proposed at the second stage of the study was examined. The nursing protocol revision plan was effective for 118 nurses (90.1%) who carried out the protocol for the target patient on assessment items, essential points of nursing care and specific nursing care. There were no items or contents for which confirmation of usefulness was less than 60%. Since 90.1% of the usefulness was confirmed by nurses working in the actual clinical setting, the authors believe that this nursing protocol was secured to a certain level. The nursing protocol developed in this study has been requested by nurses at clinical sites in the past. It is very meaningful in improving nursHow to cite this paper: Otsu, H., Narasaki, T., Kamura, A., Maeda, K., Sumiwaka, T., Uno, T., Takamori ing for the early recovery of hospitalized patients with reduced cognitive function in the process of recovery from acute exacerbation of chronic heart failure.