The Effect of Nursing Care Satisfaction on Illness Perception in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome

Objective: This study was conducted as a descriptive, correlational and cross-sectional study to examine the perception of illness in patients with acute coronary syndrome. Methods: The study was carried out in the cardiology services of the training and research hospital. The data of the study were collected with the "Socio-Demographic and İllness Characteristics Information Form of the Patients", "Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scale” and "Illness Perception Questionnaire". The sample of the study consisted of 377 patients followed up with acute coronary syndrome. Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Kruskal Wallies, Mann Whitney U, Spearman correlation analyzes were used to evaluate the data. Results: It was determined that the patients included in the study experienced pain (96.3%) in the first rank according to the illness symptom (identity) dimension of the Illness Perception Questionnaire. According to the mean scores of the illness perception dimensions, “Emotional Representations” was the highest with 24.94±5.66, and the highest “Risk Factors” with 20.29±5.22 in the sub-dimension point averages for the causes of the illness. The mean score of the patients according to the Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scale was determined as 80.91±17.36. It was determined that there was a weakly significant positive correlation between Newcastle Satisfaction with Nursing Scale and the Duration (acute / chronic) and Results sub-dimensions of Illness Perception Questionnaire (P<0.001). Conclusion: Patients demonstrate that they believe acute coronary syndrome is a chronic illness with serious consequences. In line with the results, it is suggested that nurses should plan service at a level that improves the care of patients' perceptions of illness.