Investigating the effects of nurse post-discharge follow-up phone calls on the self-efficacy of patients caregivers suffering from stroke

Introduction: Caring fora person suffering from a chronic illness creates a lot of stress for the caregiver and family of the patient. Self-efficacy is a tool to improve health and training to the caregiver; promoting self-efficacy is a significant procedure in patient care and behavioral modification. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of follow-up calls by nurses on the self-efficacy of stroke patients'caregivers. Methodology: In this research, a clinical trial study was carried out using pre-test and post-test with the participation of 70 stroke patients' caregivers. They have selected through simple sampling and were randomly assigned to control and intervention groups. Demographic information questionnaire and Sherer general self-efficacy scale were selected as tools for collecting data. Data were analyzed through independent t-test, paired t-test and Chi-Square using SPSS software version 21. Results: In the present study, the mean age of caregivers was 36.48 +/- 10.44, and the majority of caregivers were patients' children. There was no significant difference in mean score of self-efficacy between the two groups before the intervention (P >= 0.05), but after the intervention, a significant difference (P <=.05) was observed following an increase in the mean score of self-efficacy in the intervention group. The comparison of self-efficacy score in the intervention group before and after the study demonstrated that the mean score of self-efficacy increased to 63.87 +/- 8.79 before the intervention and 68.43 +/- 7.17 after the intervention. This increase was statistically significant (P = .001). Conclusion: According to the results of the current study, it can be concluded that the nurse's follow-up phone call program resulted in the self-efficacy of caregivers of patients suffering from stroke