فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Dysrhythmia is one of the most common causes of sudden cardiac death worldwide. An implantable cardioverter defibrillator isthe most effective method of treatment for dysrhythmias causing cardiac arrest. However, living with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator isassociated with challenges such as fear, anxiety, and depression.Objectives: The purpose of this study was to identify the challenges of living with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator.Patients and Methods: In this qualitative study, an interpretive phenomenological approach was used, with thirteen participants (seven men andsix women) between the ages of 21 and 70 years old (mean = 58.15, SD = 14.4). The duration of having an implantable cardioverter defibrillator was 1 -120 months (mean = 23.15, SD = 33.31). Maximum variation sampling was used to purposefully select the participants from the governmental ImamKhomeini hospital in Tehran, Iran, between May and October of 2013. Semi-structured interviews were conducted for 30 to 45 minutes, and VanManen’s six-step method was used in this study.Results: The challenges of living with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator include: living with fear, concerns about the future, concerns aboutdevice malfunction, fearing death during the shock, pain due to the shock, loss of control, the cost of the device, and the lifestyle limitations.Conclusions: Patients who live with implantable cardioverter defibrillators face many concerns and challenges. Therefore, the role of nurses inteaching patients before and after implementation is very important.