Heart Failure

Caring for people with heart failure is challenging and with the numbers of patients increasing every year, healthcare professionals are under pressure to provide appropriate, clinically and cost effective heart failure services. Heart Failure: A Clinical Nursing Handbook offers practical information that considers concerns raised by patients, questions asked by student nurses and clinical issues that arise frequently. The introduction examines the epidemiology, physiology, causes and outcomes of heart failure, whilst continuing chapters explore: Diagnosis and assessment: past medical history, the role of clinical assessment, medication reviews and the use of investigations. Treatment: the impact of education and lifestyle, exercise physiology, the role of medicines and invasive procedures and end stage heart failure. Policy and service issues: the historical perspective, specialist services, funding and patient participation and caseload management. Also discussed is the setting up and running of a heart failure service - the processes, documents, staffing, costs, data handling and business case issues that need to be understood. Practical techniques and tips to support patient understanding, minimise adverse events and treat side effects are also given to help the reader in their practice. This concise handbook is ideal for clinicians caring for patients with heart failure, pre-registration nursing students, qualified nurses on cardiology courses and community matrons undertaking advanced practise courses.