Nursing care and education of patients with Ventricular Assist Device (VAD)

Aim: The purpose of this study was to review the nursing care and education of patients with Ventricular Assist Device (VAD). Background Heart failure is one of the most important noncommunicable diseases. There are many pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches for treatment of heart failure. These treatments have contributed to the survival of people with this disease. Nursing care of patients with VADs can prolongs patient’s quality of life and survival. Method: This review study was conducted in 2018 using the keywords heart failure, intraventricular assist devise, cardiovascular disease, survival rate, complications of heart failure and nursing care, by searching in the search engines/ databases Google Scholar, OVID, Up-to-date, Springer, PubMed, SID, MagIran, Web of Sciences, Cochrane Library, CINHAL, and Scopus without time limit. A total of 63 articles were found related to the subject under study, out of which, 10 duplicate articles were omitted from the list and 4 articles were excluded because they were not available; this way, 49 papers were included in the study. Findings: The role of the nurse in teaching patients with VADs is very important. Patient education can be a help for improving quality of life and increasing patient’s survival. Conclusion: Familiarity with the new approaches to manage heart failure is very important for nurses. VADs have complications such as infection, bleeding, and arrhythmias; recognition, prevention and management of these complications can improve patient’s quality of life and survival