Atrial Fibrillation and Nursing Considerations
Atrial Fibrillation
And Nursing Considerations As a nurse one must provide holistic care. To better understand aspect of providing holistic nursing care one must have an in-depth understanding of primary body systems and their pathology. This paper will educate the prudent nurses who read it with detailed information about the specific cardiac pathology of atrial fibrillation. Written with a basic understanding of human heart function/structure as a prerequisite, this paper will first discuss key terms one must be familiar with before providing researched information explaining the pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation (AF). Next, it will discuss the etiology, clinical manifestations, common laboratory diagnostics, and interventions. Lastly, this paper continues by providing readers with nursing diagnoses and patient teachings associated with AF.
Key Terms As a nurse one must become a scientist of sorts and must be familiar with technical nursing terminology. Atrial fibrillation, or AF, is a cardiac dysrhythmia in which “multiple rapid impulses from many atrial foci depolarize the atria in a totally disorganized manner at a rate of 350 to 600 times per minute” [ (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2010) ]. A dysrhythmia is a disorder of the heartbeat involving a disturbance in cardiac rhythm and an irregular heartbeat; whereas an arrhythmia is basically a fast or irregular heartbeat caused by a disorder in the heart 's electrical system. Tachydysrhythmia is an abnormal heart rhythm with a rate greater than 100 beats per minute. Cardiac output refers to the volume of blood ejected from the heart in each minute. The normal adult range is 4 to 7 liters per minute [ (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2010) ]. Cardioversion is a procedure used on AF patients, which basically is the synchronized counter-shocking of the heart. It is a procedure used to restore a fast or irregular heartbeat to a normal sinus rhythm [ (Sutton, 2010) ].
Pathophysiology
And Nursing Considerations As a nurse one must provide holistic care. To better understand aspect of providing holistic nursing care one must have an in-depth understanding of primary body systems and their pathology. This paper will educate the prudent nurses who read it with detailed information about the specific cardiac pathology of atrial fibrillation. Written with a basic understanding of human heart function/structure as a prerequisite, this paper will first discuss key terms one must be familiar with before providing researched information explaining the pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation (AF). Next, it will discuss the etiology, clinical manifestations, common laboratory diagnostics, and interventions. Lastly, this paper continues by providing readers with nursing diagnoses and patient teachings associated with AF.
Key Terms As a nurse one must become a scientist of sorts and must be familiar with technical nursing terminology. Atrial fibrillation, or AF, is a cardiac dysrhythmia in which “multiple rapid impulses from many atrial foci depolarize the atria in a totally disorganized manner at a rate of 350 to 600 times per minute” [ (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2010) ]. A dysrhythmia is a disorder of the heartbeat involving a disturbance in cardiac rhythm and an irregular heartbeat; whereas an arrhythmia is basically a fast or irregular heartbeat caused by a disorder in the heart 's electrical system. Tachydysrhythmia is an abnormal heart rhythm with a rate greater than 100 beats per minute. Cardiac output refers to the volume of blood ejected from the heart in each minute. The normal adult range is 4 to 7 liters per minute [ (Ignatavicius & Workman, 2010) ]. Cardioversion is a procedure used on AF patients, which basically is the synchronized counter-shocking of the heart. It is a procedure used to restore a fast or irregular heartbeat to a normal sinus rhythm [ (Sutton, 2010) ].
Pathophysiology
References: Ignatavicius, D. D., & Workman, M. L. (2010). Medical-Surgical Nursing: Patient-centered Collaborative Care. In D. D. Ignatavicius, & M. L. Workman, Medical-Surgical Nursing: Patient-centered Collaborative Care (p. 745). St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders. Jiang, K., Huang, C., Ye, S.-M., & Chen, H. (2012). High accuracy in automatic detection of atrial fibrillation for Holter monitoring. J Zhejiang Univ Sci B, 751-756. Retrieved September 16, 2012, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3437373/pdf/JZUSB13-0751.pdf Mayo Clinic, S. (2012, February 3). Atrial Fibrillation. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). Retrieved September 16, 2012, from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/atrial-fibrillation/DS00291/METHOD=print MediLexicon. (2012). Atrial Fibrillation - Medical Dictionary Search. Retrieved from MediLexicon: http://www.medilexicon.com/medicaldictionary.php NHLBI. (2012). What is Atrial Fibrillation? Retrieved from The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/af/ Nordqvist, C. (2011). All About Atrial Fibrillation. Retrieved from Medical News Today: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/atrial-fibrillation/ Okner, J., & Clorfene, J. (2009). The No Bull Book On Heart Disease. New York: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. Sutton, A. L. (2010). Cardiovascular Disorders Sourcebook (4th ed.). Detroit: Omnigraphics, Inc. Retrieved 2012