Seguimiento del paciente con síndrome coronario agudo en caso de nuevo confinamiento por COVID-19: aportación de la enfermera gestora de cuidados cardiológicos

Abstract

Objective. To describe the role of the cardiac care nurse specialist with patients suffering from acute coronary syndrome during a period of confinement. Methods. Bibliographic review where the following databases were used: Cuiden Plus, CINAHL, Medline through Pubmed, MEDES, LILAC, Virtual Health Library and Google Scholar, using the health descriptors for Spanish (DeCS) or the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) descriptors: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Nursing, Cardiology, tele-health. The search included publications in English and Spanish published in the last five years. Results. COVID-19 disease has brought opportunities in the provision of care services, while minimizing the risk of direct patient exposure. Acting as a medical liason, the cardiology care management nurse improves communication with the patient, avoiding misinformation and fear, and establishes relationships with the health care team for patient follow-up within a secondary cardiovascular prevention and cardiac rehabilitation programme. These patients should be empowered with the aim to promote lifestyle changes and improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Also, health education programmes should address these issues. Conclusions. The work of cardiology care nursing staff is effective for the follow up of patients, encouraging them to be more active and aware of their clinical status and to take part in the clinical decision making process before hospital discharge (24-48 h) until referral to primary care.