Exam 34: Heart Failure

The nurse plans discharge teaching for a patient with chronic heart failure who has prescriptions for digoxin (Lanoxin)and hydrochlorothiazide. Appropriate instructions for the patient include

A patient who has chronic heart failure tells the nurse,"I was fine when I went to bed,but I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like I was suffocating!" The nurse will document this assessment finding as

IV sodium nitroprusside is ordered for a patient with acute pulmonary edema. During the first hours of administration,the nurse will need to titrate the nitroprusside rate down if the patient develops

Which diagnostic test will be most useful to the nurse in determining whether a patient admitted with acute shortness of breath has heart failure?

A patient in the intensive care unit with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF)complains of severe dyspnea and is anxious,tachypneic,and tachycardic. Several drugs have been ordered for the patient. The nurse's priority action will be to