Fatigued Elderly Patients With Chronic Heart Failure

Abstract

PURPOSETo compare descriptions of fatigue based on the NANDA characteristics from interviews with elderly people with congestive heart failure (CHF) and data recorded by nurses at a Swedish outpatient heart failure clinic.METHODSPatients were screened for moderate to severe CHF. A total of 158 patients were interviewed using a revised form of the Fatigue Interview Schedule (FIS) based on the NANDA characteristics. Of these patients, half (n= 79) were offered visits at a nurse‐monitored heart failure clinic. Nursing documentation of fatigue at the heart failure clinic was reviewed based on the NANDA characteristics and compared with the content in the patient interviews.FINDINGSTiredness was documented in 43 (75%) records and indicated in 36 patients based on patient scores on the FIS (X̄= 5.5; range 1–9). The most frequently recorded observation related to fatigue was the symptom emotionally labile or irritable, followed by notes on lack of energy and decreased performance. Patients' descriptions of their fatigue were expressed as a decreased ability to perform and a perceived need for additional energy. Results indicated poor concordance in patients' descriptions and record content concerning fatigue. Whereas patients emphasized the physical characteristics of fatigue, nurses emphasised the emotional features. Decreased libido was linked to fatigue according to the patients but not according to the nurses' records. Whereas cognitive characteristics of fatigue occurred rarely in the records, they were more frequent in the patient interviews.DISCUSSIONSymptoms such as irritability and accident‐proneness may be seen as manifestations of the patients' experiencing the need for more energy or a feeling of decreased performance. These consequences of being fatigued, rather than the different dimensions of fatigue, seemed to have been easy for the nurses to observe and document. Earlier studies indicate that poor observation, medication, and diet in patients with heart failure might partly be explained by cognitive impairment.CONCLUSIONSFindings of this study highlight the need for nurses to pay attention to the experience of fatigue in patients who suffer from CHF, and to validate their observations with the patients own expressions. Using the patients' words and expressions and the diagnostic characteristics of fatigue in recording can support the nurses in developing both understanding of patients living with CHF and strategies to help patients cope with their restricted ability in daily life.