Anke Kampmann is a Heart Failure Advanced Practice Nurse at the Heartcentre Trier at the Hospital of the Brothers of Mercy Trier in Germany.
For many years I worked as a nurse on a cardiology ward, and recognised that heart failure patients need specialised care and support in order to have a good quality of life. So I decided to train as a heart failure nurse.
I work in a team with a senior physician. My focus is on patient education and strengthening self-management skills. In the morning I see inpatients, and then those in the outpatient clinic. In the afternoon, I host planned appointments – for example providing information on living with a defibrillator. I also hold training courses and support the development of updated nursing practices.
In Germany, increasing focus is being placed on heart failure. However, there are still few structured initiatives. Nurses are trained, but they are often not given the opportunity to put the skills they’ve learned into practice. To make matters worse, we have a major shortage of nursing staff here, and we struggle to guarantee high-quality care. It has also not yet been understood that comprehensive patient education for people with heart failure can prevent frequent rehospitalisation, thus easing the burden on hospitals.
I wanted to join the HFPN to be part of a big network. We can achieve more together, and learn from each other.
I would like the Network to provide opportunities for personal exchange and getting to know best-practice examples.
Heart failure needs to receive more attention so that it’s detected earlier and the prognosis improves. In addition, heart failure nurses should be integrated into all areas, to ensure that optimal care can be delivered.
In Germany, HeartNetCare-HF showed how nurse-led care leads to an improvement in quality of life and a reduction in mortality for heart failure patients. It was exciting to see the impact of this study, leading to the inclusion of specialist nurse-led care in the heart failure guidelines.
Looking internationally, the STRONG-HF study was very important in showing how rapid use of heart failure medications (the so-called ‘fantastic four’ cornerstone medications) improves patient outcomes.
I like working in the garden, biking, cooking and reading.
The Heart Failure Policy Network brings together experts who are united in their passion: to improve outcomes for people living with heart failure. We share profiles of our members to showcase what led them to work in heart failure, and find out about changes they would like to see in prevention and care.
