CARDIAC NURSES PREPAREDNESS TO USE SELF-HELP GROUPS AS A SUPPORT STRATEGY

Self-help groups are lay, mutual support groups in which people who sh are some long-term existential problems in their lives meet regularly to support each other empathetically. These groups can be viewed as su pplementary sources of support outside patients' existing social netwo rks. As such, it is of importance to be aware of them when planning nu rsing care. The aim of this study was to examine cardiac nurses' prepa redness to use self-help groups as a support strategy. A qualitative r esearch method was used and 12 registered nurses from two coronary car e units were interviewed. The findings showed that nurses' knowledge o f social support, self-help groups and of patients' social circumstanc es as well as their attitudes to their own roles as nurses were of imp ortance in their preparedness to use self-help groups as a support str ategy. Lack of knowledge of social support and self-help groups affect ed the nurses' attitudes towards lay care and was probably the reason for not using self-help groups as a support strategy. Most of the nurs es were well informed about their patients' social circumstances, they had an explicit family nursing approach and were not at all against f urther expansion of their nursing role. However, there is a need for e ducation in innovative ways of working that respond to and interact wi th informal support networks if nurses are to be able to contribute to empowerment of their patients.