Cardiac rehabilitation

Abstract

Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) has been carried out in a progressively larger number of intensive care and coronary units since it was defined in 1964 by the WHO, but emphasis on CR has varied at different times. At present, CR is considered a priority task in the secondary prevention of ischemic heart disease in these units. One of its clearest objectives is to improve the quality of life, but we have more specific goals, such as preventing the harmful effects of prolonged bed rest, controlling risk factors, improving the patient's knowledge on his or her disease, involving the family in CR, particulary its last phases, preventing and/or correcting psychological problems such as anxiety and depression, increasing the patient's self-confidence and will to live, improving his or her capacity for physical effort with a program of aerobic physical exercise, facilitating familial, occupational and social reinsertion, and finally, if we achieve these goals, reducing the hospital stay and, perhaps, morbidity and mortality as well. A detailed explanation is given of the need for CR programs, which are divided into several categories (cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, hydroelectrolytic, hematic, respiratory and psychological). Increased knowledge of the benefits of CR will make nurses better prepared and motivated to include this program in coronary intensive care units (ICU, wards and specialized post-hospitalization centers).