It is Monday morning; the clinic is already buzzing with staff and patients checking in for early appointments. Upon checking the voicemails from the weekend, you hear a distressing message from an established cardiac device patient who states she has received multiple shocks from her ICD. Sadly, this is not the first time you have retrieved this message from this patient.
Although you hope the patient went to the ER, based on her medical history you already know there is not much you or the electrophysiologist can do. That type of response will not give this patient comfort. You are aware that she is not the only patient who has questions and some anxiety about having an implanted cardiac device. How can the clinic assist these patients?
Why should your clinic or organization consider a support group for cardiac device patients?
- Improved quality of life
- Enhanced communication with healthcare providers
- Greater understanding of heart disease and cardiac devices
- Education on remote monitoring follow up
For additional information on this topic, visit
https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-021-06735-3
