Effectiveness of a Proposed Discharge Plan onSelf-Efficacy among Patients Underwent Cardiac Valve Replacement

A discharge plan is required to be included in the care plan of patients who underwent cardiac valve replacement surgery. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the efficacy of a proposed discharge plan on the self-efficacy of patients with cardiac valve replacement.

This clinical trial study included 65 patients who underwent cardiac valve replacement at Shahid Chamran Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. The participants were then randomly assigned to intervention and control groups using a random allocation method. In the intervention group, the proposed discharge plan was implemented at the time of the patients' admission and continued one month after discharge based on a five-stage nursing process. The duration of hospitalization and the level of self-efficacy of patients before the intervention, one month, and three months after discharge in two groups were analyzed in SPSS software (version 22) [Mw1] through the Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, independent t-test, and analysis of variance. Ethics code: IR.Skums.REC.1395.80. Clinical Trial Code: IRCT2016092312452N4

The mean score of self-efficacy increased significantly over time in the intervention (53.18±4.3) and control groups (32.9±7.4) (P=0.001). However, the intervention group obtained significantly higher self-efficacy scores after one and three months post-discharge, compared to the control group (P=0.001). Furthermore, according to the Least Significant Difference test, the most significant level of effect was after three months post-discharge.

The discharge plan as a method of providing ongoing care increases the level of self-efficacy of patients. Therefore, it is recommended that the discharge plan be used as an effective way to provide patients who underwent cardiac valve replacement with ongoing care.