Cardiac misconceptions: comparisons among nurses, nursing students and people with heart disease in Taiwan.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study to examine the misconceived and potentially maladaptive beliefs (cardiac misconceptions) about heart disease held by nurses, nursing students and people with heart disease in Taiwan.

Background: Research suggests that misconceived and maladaptive beliefs about heart disease influence outcomes in people with heart disease, and that eliciting and dispelling incorrect beliefs can reduce disability in this population. However, nurses do not routinely elicit maladaptive beliefs or attempt to dispel them.

Method: Between October 2005 and March 2006, a survey was conducted using version 1 of the York Cardiac Beliefs Questionnaire to measure cardiac misconceptions in 64 hospital-based nurses (13 of whom were cardiac nurses), 134 nursing students and 238 people with heart disease.

Results: Nursing students held fewer cardiac misconceptions than nurses (P = 0.042). There were no statistically significant differences in the numbers of misconceptions between cardiac and general nurses, and no statistically significant associations between level of qualification, years of nursing experience and number of misconceptions. Nurses with higher levels of education were more likely to hold fewer misconceptions (P = 0.24). Patients held statistically significantly more misconceptions about heart problems than nurses (P < 0.001).

Conclusion: Nurses who are involved in the care for people with heart disease have a responsibility to assess and dispel people's misconceptions about their condition, and therefore continuing professional education is required to develop this clinical expertise. Future research should focus on methods of dispelling cardiac misconceptions in both nursing and patient education.