THE EFFECT OF TEACHING ON THE LEVEL OF ANXIETY AND KNOWLEDGE OF PATIENTS BEFORE CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION

Nowadays, Cardiac catheterization plays an essential role in the diagnostic evaluation of the patients with suspected or known cardiac diseases, and it is an important preoperative cardiac screening protocol for vascular surgeries. Reducing the fear and anxiety of patients, health workers should provide their patients with teaching sessions, as in other studies the positive effect of teaching on psychological aspect of patents is concluded. So, determining the effect of teaching on these patients a semi experimental one-group study was conducted, in which 70 adult patients (36 men, 34 women,) all were waiting for their first time cardiac catheterization, filled up Spielberg inventory questionnaires to assess their level of anxiety and other questionnaires for their knowledge level. Findings showed a significant relation between anxiety and knowledge level of the sample group before and after teaching (P=0/000), and we also found that reduction of anxiety is related to patients high knowledge level (P=0/0001, r= 0/395). To conclude, providing the patients with appropriate information will diminish their anxiety level and promote their knowledge, so, it is recommended that the nurse managers provide programs to highlight the instructional role of nurses. A similar research on patients waiting for other invasive procedures is recommended. Key Words: Informational Preparation, Anxiety, Cardiac catheterization