3.1 Study inclusion
The selection process for inclusion in the systematic review is displayed in Appendix 3. A total of 2333 records were identified through a systematic search. Duplicates (n=1523) were excluded. Title and abstract screening was conducted for 810 articles. Forty articles underwent full-text screening and this was conducted by two independent reviewers. Eight articles were retained for quality appraisal and were included in the synthesis.
3.2 Methodological quality of included studies
The assessment of the methodological quality of the included studies is displayed in Appendix 4. All included qualitative studies indicated congruity between the research methodology and the research question or objectives and utilized appropriate data collection methods and approach to data analysis (3, 15, 25-30). The cultural or theoretical perspective in relation to the research was discussed in three studies (25-27). The influence of the researcher on the research and vice-versa was identified in seven studies.
3.3 Characteristics of included studies
The review included eight qualitative studies (3, 15, 25-30). All studies were conducted in a cardiac care setting either in a hospital or community setting (3, 15, 25-30). Two studies were conducted in England (15, 29), and one study each in Sweden (30), Netherlands (28), Ireland (27) Australia (25, 26), and Norway (3). The sample size ranged from seven (26) to 22 participants (3). Seven qualitative studies used face-to-face interviews (15, 25-30), one study (3) used focus groups. Appendix 5 presents an overview of the study characteristics.
3.4 Review Findings
Thirty-two findings were extracted and synthesised into four categories (Appendix 6).
Nurses need training and up to date information
Findings from five studies (25-29) contributed to this category. Nurses perceived that training and education sessions are important in equipping them with information and skills to establish and engage patients in treatment planning. Nurses felt confident in providing advice or information relating to lifestyle, but they felt that medication was the area about which they would have liked ongoing training to assist patients to more fully engage patients in treatment planning: “because medication is changing so much we've got to have ongoing training all the time. We haven't had enough training at the moment” (29, p.186).
Nurses also believed that nurses who held a mentorship role in cardiac rehabilitation programmes required ongoing training: “more preparation and training may be needed to adequately prepare mentors for the role. It was actually very hard work especially as you travel the highs and lows with patients as they recover” (26 , p.96). In particular, less experienced nurses were described as requiring concise and clear information to guide patients in the right direction “at least for those with less experience that might be unsure about what information they are supposed to give” (3 , p.5). Nurses believed that knowledge relating to surrounding their role in CVD management and treatment engagement must be updated to nurses to provide accurate medical advice: “you need up to date knowledge in cardiology to be giving the right advice” (27 , p.587). Also, nurses perceived that training and coaching sessions could equip them with essential knowledge and skills to enhance patients’ engagement in their treatment plan, through collecting information on symptoms, discussing lifestyle changes, conducting assessments and providing routine follow-up care to maintain change: “after the training, I felt I had a lot of tools I could apply to patients. I was equipped with a lot of techniques for gaining effects in patients. Now I make it more specific and explore with the patient how to continue” (28, p.6). In relation to cardiac rehabilitation programs, nurses found that training and skills workshops improved their knowledge and assisted them to implement a homebased cardiac rehabilitation program : “being able to adapt the program to suit the individual person, and tailor it to suit the habits and interests of the individual was important” (25 , p.80).
Providing support for patients
Findings from five studies (15, 25, 26, 28, 30) informed this category. Being able to provide patients with support was described as a significant factor in engaging patients in their treatment plan. Nurses perceived psychological support as integral to patient recovery and engagement in a treatment plan: “I’ve got to be honest, I mean, sometimes I’ve left a cardiac rehabilitation clinic and all that we have addressed is the psychological side of things” (15 , p.4). Peer support was perceived as an important element in one study (15). Peer support provided mutual moral support that encouraged patients to engage in their treatment plan. Nurses described benefits of sharing the experience of engaging in cardiac rehabilitation with others : “Patients get a huge amount of benefit just in talking to each other, and so the problem, the trouble solving, the solutions, “oh I do this and just seeing how other people are getting on, the little supportive networks that they strike up when they’re actually in the waiting room waiting for us to assess them and they’ve already got their own counselling and social network going on there”(15 , p.6). Consultation was also viewed as another form of support (28, 30). Nurses perceived that consultation with patients prior to discharge could strengthen patient’s beliefs about the feasibility of their engagement in a treatment plan: “If you would send them home with an activity log but without consultations, then no one would fill it in. You have to make it specific; otherwise, it won’t work” (28 , p.7). One study (26) noted that a mentor was another form of support and through facilitation helped patients to engage in their treatment plan. The provision of timely support and guidance for patients after hospital discharge was described as playing a significant role in assisting patient recovery and emotional adjustment. Nurses also perceived that it was important to patients that they possessed a level of empathy: “empathy ( for the patient) is very important and an understanding of what it’s like for patient’s to experience a life-changing event (26 , p.97). Mentorship was described as reinforcing healthy behaviour and kept patients focused and motivated :“mentors can give patients hope and motivation to change poor lifestyle choices that may have impacted on their illness” (26, p.97). Nurse mentors could help patients to learn about their illness, address knowledge gaps and improve understanding of the benefits of engaging in their treatment plan “ sound knowledge of cardiac rehab principles and cardiac risk factors, plenty of life skills and a large kit bag of heart health knowledge are needed to cater for individual patient”. Patient misconceptions about coronary heart disease need to be corrected before they can learn to move forward and adopt the central role in their own health” (25 , p.80).
Patient motivation to engage with treatment plans
Four studies contributed to this category (3, 25, 26, 28). Nurses perceived that their contribution to the engagement of patients’ in their treatment plan was a primary part of their role. They believed that a lack of motivation can negatively impact on patient engagement. Nurses described engaging poorly motivated patients as difficult and they sometimes felt responsible: “I felt a feeling of frustration and failure when the person involved was unable to successfully make changes to their lifestyle” (26 , p.98). Nurses perceived motivating patients to engage in their treatment plan as a challenge. They believed that the use of tools could help them to encourage patients to enhance physical activity: “the main reason was that it's difficult to motivate people to increase their physical activity. I could use some tools for how I could handle this the best way” (28 , p.5). Nurses also perceived that patient engagement depended on patients’ motivation and willingness to engage coupled with commitment to attain goals. When these were not evident, nurses questioned their efforts to engage patients: “for me, it's more fun to support a motivated patient who does his homework perfectly compared to a patient who brings a completely empty diary. Then, you think this costs me forty-five minutes, and that patient actually does not do anything. It's a lot more fun when they say, ‘I deliberately went cycling to reach my goal.’ Yes, then you really feel like that’s what I am doing it for” (28 , p.6). Nurses believed that motivation is crucial for patient engagement in cardiac rehabilitation “we cannot make changes if the patients do not take part in it” (3 , p.1612). Nurses perceived that information related to the illness, symptoms management, medication and dietary information, lifestyle factors and physical activity is necessary to understand the patient needs. One study (28) reported that nurses expressed a need to enhance their skills to increase patient’s motivation in relation to physical activity: “the main reason was that it's difficult to motivate people to increase their physical activity. Very often, questions about patients’ motivation remain superficial, and I wanted to know how I am going to ask in-depth questions about their motivation?” (28 , p.5).
Perceived lack of time
The perception that nurses experienced a lack of time was described in two studies (27, 30). The need for more time during follow up appointments to explore patients’ understanding of their illness and their concerns about treatment was reported: “the risk of there being a lack of time during follow-up visits if the visit took a bit longer than usual and the risk that there was no time for preparation on their side. In line with this, professionals brought up the issue that they did not have enough time to log on and check the values of patients’ self-reported data” (30, p.473). Nurses perceived that there was not enough time to engage patients in the development of their treatment plan as part of a health promotion strategy. Therefore, time constraints sometimes impacted on nurse’s ability to provide a quality service: “a lot of the time we don’t get to see patients unless they have a clinical nursing need, and if we do there is no time for health promotion, that can’t be effective” (27 , p. 587).