. A patient is diagnosed with a disorder affecting the P wave within the cardiac cycle. The nurse should plan care to address which cardiac action?

Atrial depolarization

The nurse is reviewing a patient's electrocardiogram. Which wave should the nurse recognize as being the first positive wave in a normal cardiac cycle?

P wave

A patient is having an electrocardiogram. Which wave should the nurse identify as being the first negative wave after a P wave in a normal cardiac cycle?

Q wave

The nurse is reviewing a patient's electrocardiogram. Which wave should the nurse identify as being the second positive wave in a normal cardiac cycle?

R wave

A patient is experiencing electrocardiogram changes. Which wave should the nurse recognize as representing ventricular repolarization?

T wave

A patient is admitted for diagnosis of an electrocardiogram abnormality. Which wave should the nurse plan care based upon changes in the patient's ventricular depolarization?

QRS complex

After reviewing an electrocardiogram the nurse determines that an electrical impulse originated in a patient's the sinoatrial node. What did the nurse see on this tracing?

A positive P wave before a QRS complex

The nurse is reinforcing teaching for a patient who has a pacemaker. Which measure should the nurse include when explaining how the pulse should be monitored?

Take radial pulse for 1 minute

The nurse is teaching a patient what complications to report with a pacemaker rate set at 72 beats/minute. Which patient response indicates that further teaching is necessary?

Any pulse rate over 60 is considered adequate.

A patient has a pacemaker set at 72 beats/min. The nurse obtains a heart rate of 62 beats/min. What action should the nurse take?

Notify the registered nurse (RN) to inform the physician.

The nurse is participating in the emergency care for a patient who is in ventricular fibrillation. Which manifestation should the nurse expect to find and document during data collection?

Absent peripheral pulses

A patient is diagnosed with ventricular fibrillation. For which emergency intervention should the nurse anticipate preparing?

Defibrillation

A patient scheduled for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has an implanted pacemaker. What should the nurse anticipate being done for this patient?

MRI is contraindicated for this patient.

A patient on cardiac telemetry has F waves present. Which entry should the nurse include in the documentation?

Atrial flutter present on telemetry

The nurse is reinforcing teaching for a patient with premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) and is being discharged. Which lifestyle recommendation should be the most important for the nurse to include?

It is important for you to drink decaffeinated beverages.

A patient is in sustained ventricular tachycardia. Which dysrhythmia should the nurse realize can occur if the ventricular tachycardia is not treated?

Ventricular fibrillation

The nurse is caring for a patient who develops sinus tachycardia. What action should the nurse take?

Inform the RN promptly.

The nurse is assessing a patient's apical heart rate. Which heart rate should the nurse document as tachycardia?

110 beats/min

The nurse is reinforcing teaching for a patient who has had a pacemaker implanted in the right side of the chest. Which patient statement indicates correct understanding of the discharge teaching?

Grounded microwave ovens may be safely used.

The nurse is reviewing cardiac anatomy with a patient scheduled for pacemaker insertion. Where should the nurse identify the location of the sinus node for the patient?

Right atrium

The nurse is reviewing the electrical activity of the heart with a patient scheduled for synchronized pacing. In which area of the heart should the nurse teach that an electrical impulse travels that originates in the sinus node?

Atrioventricular node

The nurse is analyzing a patient's electrocardiogram. What should the nurse consider as normal for the P-R interval?

0.12 to 0.20 second

A patient is experiencing palpitations that are found to be PVCs. Which manifestation should the nurse expect to observe in this patient?

lightheadedness

A patient is diagnosed with premature atrial contractions. On which area of the heart should the nurse focus when explaining this disorder to the patient?

atrium

The nurse observes two PACs in 1 minute on a patient's cardiac monitor. The patient is asymptomatic. What action is required by the nurse?

Continue monitoring the patient.

The nurse is seeking assistance for a patient having continuous cardiac monitoring. Which type of PVCs did the nurse most likely observe in this patient?

R-on-T phenomenon

While assessing vital signs the nurse determines the regularity of a patient's cardiac rhythm. Which cardiac cycle measurement will the nurse use regularity to calculate?

heart rate

A patient has a normal heartbeat of 72 beats per minute. What area of the conduction system should the nurse consider as functioning normally in this patient?

Sinoatrial node

The nurse notices that the ST segment is depressed on a patient reporting chest pain. What action should the nurse take?

Alert the supervising RN and patient's physician immediately.

While assisting in a code, the nurse recognizes a pattern of ventricular fibrillation on the cardiac monitor. Which should the nurse expect to be ordered next?

Defibrillation

The nurse is conducting a community health screening. Which individual should the nurse recognize as being the highest risk for atrial fibrillation?

A 62-year-old male smoker with a history of rheumatic heart disease

A patient is prescribed to have a 12-lead ECG completed. How many views of the patient's heart will this ECG provide?

12

The nurse is determining the functioning of a patient's sinoatrial node. How many times per minute should the nurse expect the node to normally fire?

60-100

The nurse is instructing a patient with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) on cell phone use. How many inches should the nurse instruct the patient to keep the cell phone from the ICD?

6

A patient recovering from an acute myocardial infarction has a heart rate of 30 beats per minute. Which area of the heart should the nurse consider as pacing this patient's heart rate?

Ventricular rate

The nurse calculates a patient's QRS interval as being 0.08 seconds. What should the nurse do for this patient?

Nothing since this is a normal finding.

After analyzing a patient's heart rhythm the nurse determines that the heart rate is 48 beats per minute. How should the nurse document this finding?

Sinus bradycardia

The nurse is contributing to a patient's teaching plan after a pacemaker implantation. Which potential complications should be included in the patient's teaching plan? (Select all that apply.)

a. Faintingb. Embolismc. Palpitations

The nurse is reinforcing discharge teaching for a patient who has had a permanent pacemaker inserted. What is important for the nurse to include? (Select all that apply.)

b. Patient should wear medical alert identification.c. Patient should avoid magnetic fields and high voltage.d. Patient should avoid lifting anything more than 10 pounds.f. Patient should report dizziness, irregular heartbeats, and palpitations.

A patient is diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. Which characteristics of this rhythm should the nurse expect to observe on this patient's cardiac monitor? (Select all that apply.)

b. Irregular rhythme. QRS complex not more than 0.10 second

The nurse is caring for a patient recovering from cardioversion. For what should the nurse monitor in this patient? (Select all that apply.)

a. Skin burnsb. Blood pressured. Respiratory problemse. Rhythm disturbancesf. Changes in ST segment

The nurse identifies the diagnosis of decreased cardiac output as being appropriate for a patient with an acute dysrhythmia. Which interventions should the nurse include in this patient's plan of care? (Select all that apply.)

a. Monitor radial pulse.b. Monitor apical pulse.c. Monitor lung sounds.d. Monitor level of consciousness.f. Observe for adverse reactions to medications

The nurse is analyzing the P waves on a patient's electrocardiogram tracing. For what should the nurse analyze this type of wave? (Select all that apply.)

a. The P waves all look alike.c. The P waves are consistently occurring.d. A P wave is present in front of every QRS

The nurse determines that a patient's electrocardiogram is demonstrating normal sinus rhythm. What did the nurse observe to come to this conclusion? (Select all that apply.)

QRS interval 0.20 seconds