Life After Angioplasty — Discharge Counselling Text

The module built on one failure

The commonest reason patients stop dual antiplatelet therapy early is not side effects or cost. It is that nobody explained what the tablets were preventing. A patient who has never heard the words “stent thrombosis” will stop clopidogrel before a dental appointment and not think to ask.

The Discharge Counselling module is built around that, and these 171 pages are its text.

What learners practise

Explaining stent thrombosis to a non-medical person in under a minute, without jargon and without frightening them into non-compliance of a different kind. It is a harder exercise than most learners expect and it is assessed.

The questions patients actually have

When can I drive. When can I return to work. Is exercise safe. Is sex safe — the most wanted and least asked. What do I do if my chest hurts again. Do I take these forever. The module covers each because the alternative is the patient asking the internet.

Timing

Learners are taught to supply this at discharge rather than at follow-up, since the questions arise in the first week and follow-up is at six.

Enrolment

Interventional and general tracks, cardiac rehabilitation and nursing staff.

PDF, lifetime access, from CardiologyBooks.com.