[01] Mohammed Khalid Hussien, Nursing Department, Alghad Colleges for Applied Medical Sciences, Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [02] Adam Ahmed Adam, Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Alneelain University, Khartoum, Sudan.

Background: Intravascular clotting and low viscosity of the blood are two extremes of blood pathology that can result in serious consequences threatening the patient’s life. Medical conditions that trigger blood clotting need to be dealt with so as not to end into the serious complication of this disorder. Replaced heart valve is a treatment that activates the coagulation pathway. Anticoagulation therapy becomes a necessity in these patients. In spite of the beneficial effect of warfarin as a blood anticoagulant drug, high anticoagulation may lead to bleeding and low anticoagulation may lead to thrombosis in these patients. Therefore, the drug must be kept under tight control because it has a narrow therapeutic range. The successful management policy of a patient on anticoagulation therapy is essentially a team work including the combined activities of the medical personnel in charge and the patient him/herself. The patient can be involved through education by implementing a structured educational programme for the purpose. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a structured educational programme on the knowledge of patients with replaced heart valves on long term warfarin anticoagulation therapy. Methods: The study was conducted in Ahmed Gasim Cardiac Centre in Khartoum North in Sudan. The participants were patients with replaced heart valves on warfarin anticoagulation therapy. Six hundred patients of the hospital attendants were eligible for enrollment but the 240 of them were included in the study by the non-probability convenience sampling. The participants’ knowledge about different aspects of warfarin as an anticoagulant was assessed before and after implementation of a structured education programme about warfarin anticoagulation therapy. Results: The participants’ knowledge improved significantly after implementation of the structured educational programme about the time of warfarin dose, and what to do if a dose is missed. Also their knowledge improved significantly about the diet and drugs that interact with warfarin, warfarin storage at home, keeping an identifying card about warfarin and physician notification if the patient is undergoing surgery. Conclusion The structured educational programme000 had a statistically significant positive impact on the participants’ the essential knowledge about warfarin anticoagulation therapy. Construction and implementation of such is advised to be part and parcel of the anticoagulation management package with warfarin.

Warfarin, Educational Programme, Ahmed Gasim

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