You are here

lived experience of decision-making for older adults who had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator inserted

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
2011
Summary:
The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is an electronic medical device that was invented by Dr. Michael Mirowski and his team in 1980. The purpose of the ICD, which is implanted in a person's chest, is to sense and shock the heart when detecting a lethal cardiac arrhythmia into a rhythm that can sustain life. While the ICD saves lives, it also has the potential to deliver painful shocks when it is activated. The ICD was initially inserted in people who had survived a sudden cardiac arrest; the device is now being implanted in older adults with heart failure and no known history of cardiac arrhythmias. When talking with patients and personal family members who had an ICD, it was unclear what influenced their decision to have an ICD implanted. Understanding the experience of decision-making for older adults who had an ICD has added to nursing knowledge, practice, and education when working with people who had an ICD inserted. To understand the lived experience, the researcher conducted a phenomenological research study, guided by the theoretical lens of Paterson and Zderad's (1976/1988) humanistic nursing and analyzed the data as outlined by Giorgi (2009). The results of the study indicated the participants' lived experience of decision-making for older adults who had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator inserted was influenced by the following : trust in their physician's decision; accepting the device was necessary; the decision was easy to make; and hope and desire to live longer.
Title: The lived experience of decision-making for older adults who had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator inserted.
102 views
35 downloads
Name(s): Lucas, Louise A.
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2011
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form: electronic
Extent: xiii, 200 p. : ill. (some col.)
Language(s): English
Summary: The implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) is an electronic medical device that was invented by Dr. Michael Mirowski and his team in 1980. The purpose of the ICD, which is implanted in a person's chest, is to sense and shock the heart when detecting a lethal cardiac arrhythmia into a rhythm that can sustain life. While the ICD saves lives, it also has the potential to deliver painful shocks when it is activated. The ICD was initially inserted in people who had survived a sudden cardiac arrest; the device is now being implanted in older adults with heart failure and no known history of cardiac arrhythmias. When talking with patients and personal family members who had an ICD, it was unclear what influenced their decision to have an ICD implanted. Understanding the experience of decision-making for older adults who had an ICD has added to nursing knowledge, practice, and education when working with people who had an ICD inserted. To understand the lived experience, the researcher conducted a phenomenological research study, guided by the theoretical lens of Paterson and Zderad's (1976/1988) humanistic nursing and analyzed the data as outlined by Giorgi (2009). The results of the study indicated the participants' lived experience of decision-making for older adults who had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator inserted was influenced by the following : trust in their physician's decision; accepting the device was necessary; the decision was easy to make; and hope and desire to live longer.
Identifier: 774568224 (oclc), 3332724 (digitool), FADT3332724 (IID), fau:3792 (fedora)
Note(s): by Louise A. Lucas.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2011.
Includes bibliography.
Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2011. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s): Arrhythmia -- Treatment -- Decision making
Hermeneutics -- Research
Phenomenology -- Research
Medicine -- Decision making
Evidence based medicine
Nursing -- Decision making
Outcome assessment (Medical care)
Held by: FBoU FAUER
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3332724
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU