Quality of life after coronary artery bypass graft surgery - results of cardiac rehabilitation programme

Accountability, involvement, empowerment of the patients and families/caregiver, as well as the incentive for health behaviors based on physical exercise and healthy living habits with the support of health professionals, are fundamental in meeting the demands of the current society. The main objective of this report is to describe the process of developing skills in rehabilitation nursing that was possible in the context of the final stage in which an intervention program in the area of cardiac rehabilitation was designed, implemented and evaluated. In this quantitative study with exploratory characteristics, it was used the collection of observable and quantifiable data, from patients submitted to coronary artery bypass grafting. During the study, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was applied—being verified the normal distribution—and Student t-test, which aimed at comparing outcomes at the beginning and end of the program. When 6-min walk test was applied, there was an optimization of functional capacity (P=0.05), can be proved by the fact that all the patients had statistically significant improvements in the time-walk relationship. Furthermore, the quality of life in those who participated in the program was moderate in the preoperative period with 53.09%, and at the end a significant improvement was observed with 75.02%. Cardiac rehabilitation is fundamental in the patient submitted to coronary artery bypass grafting, taking into account the educational, physical exercise, and quality of life dimensions. Given the prevalence of risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease, differentiated intervention in rehabilitation nursing becomes essential in the training of patients for self-care.