Acute Coronary Syndromes patients' characteristics : optimising outcomes in the pre-hospital phase of care

Abstract

Timely management in pre-hospital emergency care enhances the chances of patients' survival or clinical outcomes of an Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS).

In Botswana nurses serve in the frontline of pre-hospital emergency services as the initial recipients of the emergency reports and situations. Knowledge of the patient's characteristics will assist the nurses as well as the family/others to understand the patient's responses during an ACS situation and therefore enable prompt patient assessment and facilitation of early access to appropriate care. Patient and family involvement in care during cardiac emergencies also influences the patient outcomes.

This is a non-experimental, quantitative, exploratory and descriptive study, designed to explore and describe the characteristics of patients with the experience of an ACS, and the available resources during the pre-hospital phase of emergency care, with the aim of improving patients' clinical outcomes. The results indicated that optimal care by nurses is essential in the chain of care influencing patients' chances of surviving ACS.