PATIENT EXPERIENCES Becoming a coronary artery bypass graft surgery patient: a grounded theory study of women’s experiences Davina Banner Aim. To explore women’s experiences of becoming a coronary artery bypass graft surgery patient. Background. Coronary heart disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for both sexes worldwide and is associated with significant human, fiscal and personal burden. There are growing numbers of women undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery; however, little is known about their experiences of being diagnosed, referred and waiting for surgery. Design. Grounded theory. Methods. A grounded theory study of 30 UK women with coronary heart disease waiting to undergo coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and were contextualised through informal observation of the main clinical areas. Results. Coronary heart disease and associated symptoms had extensive physical, social and emotional ramifications for the women. A substantive theory of the public-private dialogue around maintaining and renegotiating normality emerged and demonstrated that women faced significant disruption to their lives as they attempted to normalise and make sense of their illness experiences. Six categories emerged from the data: help seeking, diagnosis and referral, conceptualising surgery, living with coronary heart disease and waiting for surgery. Conclusion. This study has uncovered women’s experiences of becoming a coronary artery bypass graft patient. It has high- lighted the extensive ramifications of heart disease and the need for more gender-sensitive information and support. Relevance to clinical practice. The findings of this study provide health care professionals with a greater understanding of the experiences and needs of women through their journey to becoming a coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The study dem- onstrates that women need meaningful information particularly in relation to domestic and physical functioning. Nurses are in an important position to contribute to the care and support of women undergoing this process by providing appropriate and gender-sensitive information that can improve health outcomes and quality of life. Key words: cardiac surgery, coronary heart disease, grounded theory, normality, nursing, women Accepted for publication: 26 June 2010 Introduction Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality for both sexes worldwide (Assman et al. 1999; World Health Organisation 2007). CHD is a ‘modern epidemic’ (Lockyer & Bury 2002) associated with a high financial burden for healthcare services in addition to high personal costs for the individual and their family. With all healthcare, workforce and personal outlays accounted for, CHD costs the UK economy over £7Æ9 billion each year (British Heart Foundation 2003, 2006). Indeed, CHD accounts for over 7Æ9% of total health care expenditure in all industrialised countries and is a global concern (World Health Organisation 2007). Demographic shifts have resulted Author: Davina Banner, PHD, BN, RN, Assistant Professor, University Of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, Canada Correspondence: Davina Banner, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing 10-1572, University of Northern British Columbia, 3333 University Way, Prince George, Canada. Telephone: +1 250 960 5259. E-mail: bannerl@unbc.ca Ó 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd, Journal of Clinical Nursing, 19, 3123–3133 3123 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2010.03424.x