Cardiac patient education : an evaluation of program compliance

Includes bibliographical references (pages 68-71)A hospital patient education program for cardiac patients was\ud evaluated through the review of medical records. A questionnaire\ud was used to collect data from the records of Myocardial Infarction\ud patients discharged in 1979. Medical and demographic data collected\ud about the current target population was compared with data from prior\ud studies (performed in 1976 and 1978) to ascertain which, if any,\ud characteristics had changed.\ud Survey results showed a sharp increase in Spanish-speaking Hispanics\ud and a greater number of patients who were still employed, rather than\ud retired, at the time of hospital admission. Survey data were also\ud collected regarding the cardiac patient education program. Survey\ud findings indicated teaching team members were not adequately documenting\ud teaching activities, post-teaching tests were not being\ud utilized as assessment tools, and some content areas were not being\ud taught. However, the cardiac patient education program appeared to\ud be an integral part of each cardiac patient's rehabilitation program\ud as evidenced by physicians' comments