Original ArticleA woman's experience: living with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator

The implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) have decreased mortality rates from those who are at risk for sudden cardiac death or who have survived sudden cardiac death and has been shown to be superior to anti-arrhythmic medications (Greenburg et al., 2004). This advance in technology may improve physical health but can impose some challenges to patients, such as depression, anxiety, fear, and unpredictability. Published research on how ICD affects a woman's life experience using phenomenology is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to describe the experiences of women who have an ICD using Colaizzi's method of phenomenology since their implant. Analysis of the three interviews resulted in five themes that described the essence of this experience. The results of this study could not only help clinicians understand what their patients are experiencing but also it can be used as an education tool.