Development of a Thirst Symptom Management Program for Patients with Acute Heart Failure
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Abstract
This research aimed to develop and study the feasibility of a thirst management program for patients with acute heart failure. By using the Symptom Management Model of Dodd et al. (2001), the research was conducted in 4 phases: 1) problem survey and synthesis, 2) program development, 3) program pilot, and 4) program dissemination. The results of Phase 1 showed that all patients with acute heart failure experienced thirst, and 86.67% had moderate to severe levels. In Phase 2, the program was developed and validated for content validity by 5 experts (CVI = 1.00), and taste testing was conducted in 10 patients. It was found that 80% agreed that the appropriate sourness level was 2.5 grams of roselle powder per 110 ml of hot water. In Phase 3, the program was piloted with 5 patients, providing knowledge combined with symptom management through sucking on roselle ice cubes and oral care every 2 hours, 6 times per day, for 2 days. The results showed that the mean thirst severity score decreased from a severe level ( x̄= 7.60, S.D. = 2.07) to a mild level ( x̄= 2.80, S.D. = 1.92) at the end of Day 1, and continued to decrease until reaching a mild level ( x̄= 1.40, S.D. = 1.52) at the end of Day 2. Overall satisfaction was at the highest level (x̄= 4.80, S.D. = 0.40). In conclusion, the developed thirst management program for patients with acute heart failure is feasible for implementation and has a tendency to reduce thirst severity in patients with acute heart failure.
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