Cardiovascular Assessment & Monitoring Flashcards
7 cards from real ABPANC practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Cardiovascular Assessment & Monitoring flashcards as text
A post-operative patient develops atrial fibrillation with a ventricular rate of 148 bpm and BP 80/50 mmHg. The MOST appropriate initial intervention is:
Answer: Prepare for immediate synchronized cardioversion
Hemodynamically unstable atrial fibrillation with hypotension requires immediate synchronized cardioversion to restore sinus rhythm and re-establish hemodynamic stability.
Which assessment finding is MOST consistent with right-sided heart failure in a perianesthesia patient?
Answer: Jugular venous distension and dependent peripheral edema
Right-sided heart failure causes blood to back up into the systemic venous circulation, producing jugular venous distension and dependent peripheral edema.
The perianesthesia nurse notes PVCs occurring every other beat on the cardiac monitor. This rhythm pattern is called:
Answer: Ventricular bigeminy
Ventricular bigeminy is the pattern of alternating normal sinus beats and PVCs, where every other beat is a premature ventricular contraction.
Which electrolyte imbalance MOST commonly predisposes post-operative patients to ventricular dysrhythmias?
Answer: Hypokalemia
Hypokalemia reduces the cardiac cell resting membrane potential, increasing myocardial irritability and significantly predisposing the heart to ventricular dysrhythmias.
A patient's arterial line waveform shows a markedly diminished dicrotic notch. This finding MOST likely indicates:
Answer: Decreased cardiac output or reduced arterial compliance
A diminished dicrotic notch suggests decreased forward cardiac output or reduced arterial compliance, as the notch reflects the pressure change at aortic valve closure.
A patient post-cardiac surgery develops Beck's Triad (hypotension, jugular venous distension, muffled heart sounds). The nurse should FIRST suspect:
Answer: Cardiac tamponade
Beck's Triad is the classic presentation of cardiac tamponade, where pericardial fluid compresses the heart, impairing filling and reducing cardiac output.
On a post-operative patient's 12-lead ECG, ST depression in leads V4–V6 MOST likely indicates:
Answer: Subendocardial ischemia or non-ST elevation myocardial ischemia (NSTEMI)
ST depression reflects subendocardial ischemia or NSTEMI, indicating reduced oxygen supply to the inner myocardial layers without complete transmural infarction.