Update of the Situation-specific Theory for health management in heart failure: Delphi study

to describe the process of analyzing the intrinsic elements of the Situation-specific Theory for health control in heart failure and present its respective update. analysis of the intrinsic elements of the theory using the Delphi technique. Nurses whose expertise involved knowledge in Cardiology Nursing, Nursing theories, heart failure and/or Nursing terminology were selected. the Theory was analyzed by 15 experts in the first round and 14 in the second round; all items evaluated obtained agreement greater than 80% regarding their adequacy, after two rounds of analysis. The theory maintained its original structure; however, the relationship between the factors that influence the health control of individuals with heart failure and the pictogram were updated. the updated theory offers a better understanding of the factors that can influence the health control of individuals with heart failure and, although the focus of the theory is in the outpatient setting, it assumes the possibility of its application in other settings. The Delphi technique proved to be useful for theoretical validation, considering the specificity of the theme; however, the response time of the experts can be slow, which tends to impact the time to complete the study.