Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of disease both in Croatia and the rest of the world (1). In Croatia, cardiovascular diseases cause as much as 45% of mortality compared to other diseases (2). Invasive procedures in cardiology are becoming more common, even though they themselves represent certain risks. Proper preparation of the patient is one of the key procedures before performing the procedure itself in order to reduce the occurrence of risks to a minimum probability. Patient preparation consists of different components, such as physical preparation, psychological preparation, and preparation of medical documentation. Special attention should be paid to the psychological preparation of the patient. Depressive and anxiety disorders are three times more common in people with cardiac diseases than in the rest of the population. One of the reasons for this is the insufficient information collected by the patient about the disease itself, the deterioration of their general physical condition, and knowledge about the change in their quality of life. When informing the patient about the cardiac disease he is dealing with, there are often various signs of stress that affect the patient’s general condition. Different perceptions of the disease affect the individual’s behavior and, more precisely, the willingness to cooperate between the health care staff and the patient. In addition to the fear of the disease itself, there is also a great fear of performing invasive procedures. Physical preparation differs depending on the planned invasive procedure (implantation or replacement of a permanent or temporary pacemaker, invasive percutaneous coronary angiography). When handing over the patient to the medical team in the laboratory for heart catheterization or cardiac electrostimulation, the data that was verbally transmitted must be corrected with the data filled in on the transferred patient list.
Copyright: 2022, Croatian Cardiac Society
Date received: 03 November 2022
Date accepted: 10 November 2022
Publication date (print and electronic): November 2022
Volume: 17
Issue: 9-10
Page: 327
Publisher ID: CC 2022 17_9-10_327
DOI: 10.15836/ccar2022.327