Effect of Educational Program on Nurses' Performance Caring for Patients with Cerebrovascular Stroke

Abstract

he CVS is the third leading cause of death in the United States of America USA and the most common cause of long-term disability in adults. Over 150,000 people with stroke die each year. There are approximately 5.5 million CVS survivors in the USA and it is estimated that about 13 million individuals have sustained a so-called “silent” stroke (Nursing Times, 2012). Cerebrovascular stroke is a neurological deficit lasting over twenty four hours that occurs as a result of interrupted arterial blood flow to parts of the brain. With CVS the impairment of oxygen and nutrients to brain cell causes permanent brain damage and impaired function (Smeltzer et al., 2010). There are two main types of CVS: ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. Ischemic strokes are more common than hemorrhagic strokes, they account for 83% of all strokes. Ischemic stroke results from disruption of cerebral blood flow caused by total or partial occlusion by a thrombus or an embolus. Hemorrhagic stroke accounts for 17%, it results from a ruptured blood vessel and hemorrhage into brain tissues. Hemorrhagic stroke has two main subtypes according to the site: intracerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage (Gocan & Fisher, 2008).