Rehabilitation and guidance as reported by women and men who had undergone coronary bypass surgery.

Aims And Objectives: The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of rehabilitation reported by coronary artery disease patients who had undergone coronary artery bypass surgery. A further purpose was to describe the kind of guidance on rehabilitation that they were given during this period.

Methods: The data consisted of thematic questionnaires completed by six women and eight men who had undergone coronary artery bypass surgery. They had recorded their experiences on these questionnaires at one-month intervals for a year after the surgery. The data were analysed using the method of content analysis.

Results: On the basis of the results, women had experienced the most balanced period of physical, mental and social rehabilitation during the six months following surgery. Their recovery, however, suffered a setback after the first six months. On the basis of the results, men attained a better balance of physical, mental and social rehabilitation only after the six-month period following surgery. Even men had various problems in their rehabilitation, but their recovery proceeded more smoothly than that of women. Women hoped for more guidance throughout the process of rehabilitation. The support and help from wives had a positive impact on the process of men's recovery. Peer support was another significant source support.

Conclusions: A person undergoing rehabilitation needs special guidance from health care professionals, especially when his/her rehabilitation does not proceed optimally. The findings suggest that, especially, the guidance of women should be improved because women seemed to suffer from many problems during their process of rehabilitation, including loneliness, insecurity, uncertainty, fears, depression and anxiety.

Relevance To Clinical Practice: Expanding the role of practical nurses to provide both preventive and rehabilitation guidance should be seen as an important strategy in health care. Individual needs, gender differences and support from families and peers should be taken into consideration when planning and implementing guidance.