In the absence of complications, patients who have had a heart attack are not confined to bed for more than 12 hours. You can participate in progressive daily activity depending on your vital signs (blood pressure and heart rate), age, and physical capacity. The following stages are used as general guidelines for activity following a heart attack. Actual practice may vary significantly from these guidelines, depending on your health status, the therapies performed and progress. Due to reperfusion therapies whether with intravenous medicines or the use of angioplasties and stents, and improvements in the anesthesia used for coronary artery bypass surgery, it is common for patients to leave the hospital, if they are stable, within just a few days.
Stage one (days 1 and 2)
During the first day, you may use a bedpan or bedside commode. You may feed yourself from a tray with arm and back support. Complete assistance will be given for bathing. The nurse will move your arms and legs to assess range of motion. You may be asked to push your foot against a footboard as a first step in active motion. You are encouraged to concentrate on relaxing and taking deep breaths.
On the second day, with back support, you may partially bathe your upper body. You should try to move from the bed to the chair for one to two hours per day. You should actively move your arms and legs five to 10 times during the day.
Stage two (days 2 through 4)
You may bathe, groom and dress yourself either sitting on the bed or in a chair. You may transfer from the bed to a chair as often as desired and may walk around the room for increasing periods of time. Walking can help alleviate constipation.
On the fourth day, you may shower or stand by the sink to bathe. Using a shower chair helps guard against falling and anxiety. You may dress in your own clothes. Supervised walks outside the room (100 to 600 feet) should occur several times per day.
During stage two, you may be transferred to an intermediate coronary care unit where you will continue to be treated with in-hospital rehabilitation and participate in educational programs to learn how to maintain a healthy heart.
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