Social support and cardiac recovery.

Social support has been implicated as a significant factor in recovery from myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass surgery. Questions surrounding the role of social support in recovery that this article will answer include the following: How powerful is social support in promoting recovery? Must social support interventions be complex to be effective? What are the effects of problematic social support? How does social support promote recovery? How can nurses improve social support to maximize patient outcomes?