The articles about heart failure published in the December 2001 and December 2003 issues of AJN have been incredibly valuable to those of us involved in a project on the management of heart failure at a long-term care facility. By providing a variety of clinical practice guidelines, the articles are an excellent resource for the nursing staff.

In particular, the most recent article, "The Psychosocial Aspects of Heart Failure" (December 2003), covers an important aspect of care. Articles such as this can help our staff to better understand the effects of living with heart failure, especially as the patient becomes frailer.

Deborah Lekan-Rutledge, MSN, RN,C, CCCN