Rhythm interpretation a fib - page 2

i am new on a tele floor. I was taught that a fib is irregularly irregular. I notice a lot of nurses on the floor chart a fib as the rhythm when the rhythm is completely regular. Im wondering if they... Read More

  1. by sunjumper
    Apr 13, '13
    I currently work on a telemetry floor and being a tele nurse means know how to interpret strips... Right? You'd be surprised by how many nurses I work with, where tele is their full time floor have no freakin' clue how I differentiate between SR with frequebt PAC's and Afib. P waves are not discernible in AFib. Think of it like the heart is trying to tell the atrias to contract but they're not too sure... Getting part of the way then pulling back. Thus the quivering " p waves". PAC's are simply another conductive spot in the atrias firing before the SA node. Review the actual conductive path of the heart along side the rhythms and it will clear a lot up!
  2. by MunoRN
    Apr 13, '13
    A-fib, by definition, has P-waves. They can be difficult to recognize since they are fibrillating, but they do exist, typically just as a squiggely isoelectric line. If they truly don't exist, then that is a rhythm that originates lower, such as the junction, which are typically regular. It's the fibrillating p-waves that make A-fib irregular, and often tachy. In A-fib with rapid ventricular response (RVR), the "response" being referred to is response to the atrial hyperactivity.
    Last edit by MunoRN on Apr 13, '13
  3. by BuckRN
    Apr 28, '13
    Most Tele nurses forget that Junctional Rhythms exist. Don't get caught in this trap! Unless this patient's rate was under 50, the rhythm you are describing would be interpreted as accelerated junctional. We get comfortable with our standard rhythms and the rare ones get forgotten.
  4. by gatornurse2
    May 31, '13
    They are def. not interpreting the EKG strips right! A-fib is irregular, the pt prob converted to a regular rhythm!
  5. by akulahawkRN
    May 31, '13
    A-Fib is, by definition, irregularly irregular. If you see a rhythm that's quite regular in a patient who's got A-Fib and there's no pacer... start looking for junctional or ventricular rhythms. I recall a patient of mine who had AF for years. One fine day she developed a little shortness of breath and some tachycardia. Her pulse was about 160 and very, very regular. She was later determined to be in a very stable VT with pulses, and had been that way for about 4 hours... This wasn't AF with RVR. Too regular. Remember that even AF with RVR will still be irregularly irregular, just faster.
  6. by Esme12
    Jun 1, '13
    However in the presence of Dig toxicity....you can have a regular AFib

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