Lay consultations in symptom self-care: A concept analysis for theoretical expansion in research and practice

s / Heart & Lung 44 (2015) 547e559 548 instrumentation study. Patients were predominantly male (66%) and Caucasian (74%) with mean age of 50.4 13.7 years. Caregivers were predominantly female (80%) and Caucasian (80%) with mean age of 48.9 12.7 years. In this study, patients and caregivers were asked to complete an 18-item survey designed for understanding their discharge process and home-care management issues prior the hospital discharge. The format of the survey consisted of six open-ended questions, ten dichotomous and two multiple-item responses. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis procedures. Results: Preparations for hospital discharge consisted of providing education/training, performing competency evaluation, and supporting patients/caregivers with LVAD resource materials. The majority of patients (78%) and caregivers (97%) learned LVAD home-care management with “hands-on training.” Return demonstration (patients 76%, caregivers 95%) was the common method of LVAD competency evaluation. Although most patients (61%) and caregivers (90%) felt adequately prepared for hospital discharge and satisfied with the information they received, overall results still yielded three main issues (themes) regarding LVAD home-care management: reality of LVAD care, need for knowledge/ skill review, and lack of home-care RN trained for LVAD. Conclusion: Caregivers appeared to be more engaged than patients during preparations for hospital discharge process. However, they shared the same concerns about LVAD home-care management. Future research is needed to scrutinize the current discharge preparation process and long-term care support. Furthermore, longitudinal simultaneous dyadic research should be implemented to make definitive conclusions about this study’s findings, which may have negative influence on the health status and quality of life among LVAD patients and their caregivers.