Upplevlesen av att drabbas av ett hjärtstopp och hur livskvaliteten påverkas

: En allmän litteraturstudie

Abstract

Background: About ten thousand persons suffer a cardiac arrest in Sweden each year and about three hundred survive. A cardiac arrest affects the victim's life in different ways and it’s therefore important for the nurse to have knowledge about the experiences of these patients. Purpose: The purpose was to describe how patients experience their quality of life after a cardiac arrest. Method: A literature review was conducted using an inductive content analysis. Results: Patients experienced physical changes which they handled differently. They needed information and support to be able to move on. Some patients carried a fear after the cardiac arrest which affected their quality of life negatively. Discussion: The experience of surviving a cardiac arrest is different because each individual has its own life-world. Patients that were suffering from memory problems after the cardiac arrest experienced a decreased quality of life. The reason could be that the problems are not noticed and the patients do not get the help they need. Conclusion: To be able to provide good care, the patient's life-world has to be in the centre. This allows the nurse to understand the experience of having suffered a cardiac arrest and how the quality of life is affected.