The cardiac rehabilitation professional visits John and explains what has happened to him. John has had a ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), another name this is given is a heart attack. It is important to consider patient friendly words to ensure they understand what has happened to them and explain the process that occurred to address any cardiac misconceptions.
The cardiac rehabilitation nurse talks to John
- CR: Hi John I am the Cardiac Rehabilitation nurse, Carol. I wondered if we could have a chat to discuss why you are here? Tell me what you already know about what has happened to bring you into hospital.
- John: I think the doctor said I had to have scaffolding put in to my heart!
- CR: Let me explain in more detail just exactly what this means.
- John: Thank you for that. That would be good because I’m worried about what happens next.
- CR: The chest pain you were having was actually a heart attack. The doctors call this a myocardial infarction. Your heart is a muscle which pumps the blood all around your body. This muscle needs a supply of oxygen in the blood through the coronary arteries. When one of these arteries becomes blocked suddenly with a blood clot, part of your heart muscle is deprived of oxygen and may be damaged.
- John: I think I know what caused this to happen to me, I’ve been really stressed at work recently as there have been lots of redundancies.
- CR: I’m really sorry to hear about that. It must have been a worrying time for you. Can you think about any other things which might have contributed?
- John: No nothing that comes to mind
- CR: How about we explore some other reasons why you might have had a heart attack and think about ways to minimise the risks of this happening again?
- John: That sounds like a plan. I’ve also got lots of questions to ask you about how to get back to normal.
Pulse point
If you want to review Johns STEMI diagnosis and possible treatment pathways, you should revisit Module 4.
John went to the catheterization lab as per ACS protocol for coronary angiography and stenting following his STEMI.
Page last reviewed: 27 Jul 2020
