Loureiro, MariaParola, VítorDuarte, JoãoOliveira, Isabel de JesusAntunes, MargaridaCoutinho, GonçaloMartins, Maria ManuelaNovo, André2024-09-022024-09-022024Loureiro, Maria; Parola, Vítor; Duarte, João; Oliveira, Isabel; Antunes, Margarida, Coutinho, GF; Martins, Maria Manuela; Novo, André (2024). Cardiac rehabilitation to unpatient heart transplant—HRN4HTx intervention protocol. Nursing Reports. ISSN 2039-4403. 14:3. p. 2084-20942039-4403http://hdl.handle.net/10198/30219Heart transplantation is the gold-standard treatment for terminal heart failure. Despite being successful, pre- and post-transplant limitations interfere with patients’ functional capacity, self-care, and quality of life post-surgery. Rehabilitation is necessary to address these limitations, prevent complications, and promote a safe return home. This study analyzes the safety of a phase 1 cardiac rehabilitation protocol (RN4HTx) in heart transplant patients and its effects on self-care capacity. A quantitative, descriptive study was conducted with 19 heart transplant recipients. The protocol was implemented in collaboration with a rehabilitation professional, who monitored adverse events, hemodynamic variables, self-care capacity (Barthel) pre- and post-transplant, and functional capacity at discharge (6 min walk test). The results showed that 68.42% of recipients were men, with an average age of 50.21 years and 15 days of hospitalization post-transplant. Approximately 73.68% of recipients were transferred from other wards with changes in functional capacity. All patients progressed to the final stage of the program without adverse events. There was a notable improvement in self-care capacity before and after transplantation, with a measure of functional status of 310.035 m (6MWT). The study found that RN4HTx is a feasible cardiac rehabilitation program without adverse events in the immediate postoperative period following heart transplantation, positively impacting functional recovery and therapeutic self-care capacity, thus increasing the safety of returning home. This study was retrospectively registered on Clinical Trials—NCT06552390.engCardiac rehabilitationHeart transplantationinpatientrehabilitation nursingjournal article10.3390/nursrep14030155