Heart failure: strategies to enhance patient self-management.

Successful management of heart failure requires an active partnership between the patient and health care providers. This can be facilitated through a focused patient education plan that begins in acute care and has continuity into the community. Elements of the education plan involve both teaching content areas and self-management behaviors. Clinical pathways for heart failure incorporate teaching and educational strategies to guide the work of the multidisciplinary team, and the advanced practice nurse has tremendous potential in facilitating improved patient outcomes.