Volume 1, Number 4, January 2005

Stop the clot: achieving effective anticoagulation in patients with heart disease
David Fitzmaurice

Thromboembolism is a common complication of heart disease – particularly in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). Decisions to prescribe an anticoagulant are based on assessment of an individual patient’s risk of clotting and the side-effects of treatment. With growing numbers of patients with heart disease, the number of patients on anticoagulants is increasing and there is a shift to primary care-based anticoagulation clinics. Practice nurses have a central role in educating patients about anticoagulation therapy and in monitoring their ongoing care.

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