Nurses’ perspectives on the barriers to and facilitators of the implementation of secondary prevention for people with coronary heart disease: a qualitative descriptive study

OBJECTIVES: To identify the barriers to and facilitators of secondary prevention among people with coronary heart disease from the perspectives of nurses. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive design using face-to-face semistructured interviews. SETTING: This study was conducted in China from October to November 2021. PARTICIPANTS: Registered nurses who had experience conducting secondary prevention for coronary heart disease were purposively recruited. Twelve nurses from 10 hospitals participated in this study. The data were analysed using content analysis based on the Theoretical Domains Framework. RESULTS: Based on the Theoretical Domains Framework, barriers to and facilitators of secondary prevention were identified within four key themes: nurse attributes (eg, knowledge and skills, motivation), patient characteristics (eg, age, education and economic conditions), the environmental context and resources (eg, organisational support, including financial support, clarity of responsibilities) and social influence (eg, economic development level, patient feedback). CONCLUSIONS: This research highlights the importance of nurses’ motivation for delivering preventive care. Organisations should provide adequate support and establish a quality management system to maintain the quality of secondary prevention.