EFFECT OF IMPLEMENTING NURSING CARE STANDARDS FOR NURSES CARING FOR PATIENTS WITH CARDIAC ARRHYTHMIA

Arrhythmias are common in patients with cardiac disorders, so the main cause of death in cardiac diseases is cardiac arrhythmias, as they may reduce pumping efficiency of the myocardium and lead to heart failure. However, certain arrhythmias pose these threats while others can be tolerated without serious consequences. Objective: This study aims at evaluating the effect of implementing nursing care standards for nurses caring for patients with cardiac arrhythmias in coronary care unit (CCU) at Ain Shams University Hospitals. Methods: The study was conducted on all available nurses (40 nurses) pre, post and follow up 1 & 2 implementation of the standards. Data collected from coronary care unit at Ain Shams University Hospitals. Results: this study indicates that the standard has increased the score of knowledge and practice among all studied group compared to pre- implementation of the standards. Conclusion: The study reveals that the majority of nursesʹ had unsatisfactory knowledge and practice before implementation of the standards and after applying the standards, there were improvement. According to these results, the study recommended that written care standards for nurses should be available in all coronary care units to be followed by them and should be up dated periodically.