Exam 36: Nursing Management: Dysrhythmias

The nurse has received change-of-shift report about all of these patients on the telemetry unit. Which patient should the nurse see first?

When needing to estimate the ventricular rate quickly for a patient with a regular heart rhythm using an ECG strip, the nurse will

The nurse reviews data from the cardiac monitor indicating that a patient with a myocardial infarction experienced a 50-second episode of ventricular tachycardia before a sinus rhythm and a heart rate of 98 were re-established. The most appropriate initial action by the nurse is to

A 19-year-old student has a mandatory ECG before participating on a college swim team and is found to have sinus bradycardia, rate 52. BP is 114/54, and the student denies any health problems. What action by the nurse is appropriate?

The nurse obtains a monitor strip on a patient admitted to the coronary care unit with a myocardial infarction and makes the following analysis: P wave not apparent; ventricular rate 162, R-R interval regular; PR interval not measurable; and QRS complex wide and distorted, QRS duration 0.18 second. The nurse interprets the patient's cardiac rhythm as

The nurse determines that a patient has ventricular bigeminy when the rhythm strip indicates that

A patient with myocardial infarction develops symptomatic hypotension. The monitor shows a type 1, second-degree AV block with a heart rate of 30. The nurse administers IV atropine as prescribed. The nurse determines that the drug has been effective on finding a(n)

A patient who has been successfully resuscitated after developing ventricular fibrillation asks the nurse about what happened. The most appropriate response by the nurse is,

A patient has received instruction on the management of a new permanent pacemaker before discharge from the hospital. The nurse recognizes that teaching has been effective when the patient tells the nurse,

When a patient requires defibrillation, in which order will the nurse accomplish the following steps?

A 21-year-old college student arrives at the student health center at the end of the quarter complaining, "My heart is skipping beats." The nurse obtains an ECG and notes the presence of occasional PVCs. What action should the nurse take first?

A patient with supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is hemodynamically stable and requires cardioversion. The nurse will plan to

A patient's sinus rhythm rate is 62. The PR interval is 0.18 seconds at 1:00 AM, 0.20 seconds at 12:30 PM, and 0.23 seconds at 4:00 PM. Which action should the nurse take?

A patient who is complaining of a "racing" heart and nervousness comes to the emergency department. The patient's blood pressure (BP) is 102/68. The nurse places the patient on a cardiac monitor and obtains the following ECG tracing. Which action should the nurse take next?

During change-of-shift report, the nurse learns that a patient with a large myocardial infarction has been having frequent PVCs. When monitoring the patient for the effects of PVCs, the nurse will check the patient's

A patient experiences dizziness and shortness of breath for several days. During cardiac monitoring in the ED, the nurse obtains the following ECG tracing. The nurse interprets this cardiac rhythm as

In analyzing a patient's electrocardiographic (ECG) rhythm strip, the nurse uses the knowledge that the time of the conduction of an impulse through the Purkinje fibers is represented by the

A patient develops sinus bradycardia at a rate of 32 beats/min, has a BP of 80/36 mm Hg, and is complaining of feeling faint. Which action should the nurse take?

When analyzing an ECG rhythm strip of a patient with a regular cardiac rhythm, the nurse finds there are 25 small blocks from one R wave to the next. The nurse calculates the patient's heart rate as ______.

A patient who has a history of sudden cardiac death has an ICD inserted. When performing discharge teaching with the patient, it is important for the nurse to instruct the patient and family that