Nurse-led heart failure clinics in Sweden

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the nurse-led heart failur e care in Sweden. Methods: A postal questionnaire was sent to all 86 hospit als in Sweden treating heart failure patients. All hospitals completed the questionnaire, which contained 20 questions about heart failure nurses, pat ient education, heart failure clinics, co-operation with primary healthcare and care programmes. Results: Sixty-nine percent of all hospitals (n = 86) had nurses specialised in taking care of heart failure patients, in total 148 heart failure nurses. The nurses were involved in patient education and follow-up. There were nurse-led heart failure clinics in 66% of the hospit als. The clinics provided follow-up after hospitalisation, telephone counse lling and drug titration. The majority of the heart failure nurses had been delegated the responsibility for making protocol-led changes in medication s. Most clinics registered the number of annual visits to the clinic, and t he largest clinic had up to 1000 visits, Approximately half of the hospital s had a special care plan for patients with heart failure and an organised co-operation with primary healthcare. Conclusion: The first nurse-led heart failure clinic started in Sweden in 1990 and since then the model has been spread to two-thirds of the Swedish hospitals. (C) 2001 European Society o f Cardiology. All rights reserved.