Influence of extended nursing care on postoperative quality of life of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting

Objective To explore the influence of extended nursing care on postoperative quality of life (QOL) of patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) . Methods By convenience sampling method, 86 inpatients with coronary heart disease (CHD) , receiving CABG from January 2009 to July 2015 in department of cardiothoracic surgery of Yancheng Hospital Affiliated to School of Medicine, Southeast University, were selected and divided into the control group (n=43) and the experimental group (n=43) according to random number table method. Patients in the control group were cared by routine nursing, and were instructed at discharge about precautions, time of medicine taking and re-examination; while patients in the experimental group were cared by extended nursing according to previously designed health-management plan. Scores of QOL at discharge, one month after discharge and three months after discharge, incidence of abnormal blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipid of patients between two groups were compared. Results There was no significant difference in the scores of QOL, incidence of abnormal blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipid of patients between two groups at discharge and 1 month after discharge (P>0.05) . Three months after discharge, scores of QOL of patients in the experimental group were significantly higher than those in the control group, while incidence of abnormal blood pressure, blood glucose and blood lipid is lower in the experimental group than those in the control group (P<0.05) . Conclusions Extended nursing care for patients after CABG can stimulate their initiative in participating in self health management, and improve their QOL, which make it worth promoting.