Patients’ experience of recovery and coping after heart valve surgery at a national referral hospital, windhoek, khomas region, namibia

Heart valve disease is a significant public health challenge contributing to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality worldwide. It serves as an indication for heart valve repair and replacement surgeries. This study aimed to explore and describe the patients’ experience of recovery and coping heart valve surgery. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual design was employed. A purposive sampling method was used to select the participants. A total of twelve (N = 12) patients were interviewed through face-to-face interviews and data collection continued until data saturation was achieved. Data were analyzed using Tesch’s method of content analysis. Two themes that emerged were different experiences of patients regarding recovery and coping supported by 5 sub-themes, and experiences of the patients regarding support and care from nurses and family members after heart valve surgery supported by 2 subthemes. The findings revealed that patients had challenges with recovery and coping after they were discharged from the hospital due to a lack of knowledge and information on self-care after heart valve surgery. Patients valued support from nurses and families, but some were disappointed due to inadequate nursing support and overprotective families owing to a lack of knowledge on cardiac rehabilitation. The findings have implications for developing an educational programme for nurses to facilitate the cardiac rehabilitation of patients after heart valve surgery.