HELP!!! Last semester student needs help with EKG!!!

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Dec 26, 2006

Don't panic, G! The most helpful advice that I've found in analyzing EKG's is to develop a system. Every system is a little different, but mine begins something like this:

- Rate: Slow or fast?

- Regularity: Regular, regularly irregular, or irregularly irregular?

- P waves: Present? Upright and rounded? One for every QRS?

Anyway, it goes on and on like that until you pin down the rhythm. Eventually you'll be able to pick up the interpretations without even consciously thinking of the steps.

ECG's Made Easy by Aehlert is a good book to get started, but there are plenty of others. The trick is to find a system that works for you and to practice using it over and over.

wkucu1 · Dec 26, 2006

thanks eric! i really appreicate the advice! i am sure you remember just starting that stuff....it is confusing. ironically, i just bought that book!

hope you have a great new year! any other tid bits you remember, feel free to let me know!!!!

g

AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Dec 26, 2006

There is an awsome book out it is called "Rapid Interpretation of EKG's" it is by Dale Dubin M.D. I have recommended this book to several people and all who have read it come out knowing how to read an EKG and more importantly the significance of what they are seeing. You have to read it cover to cover, but it is well worth it isnt that big of a book. Its in soft cover with a bright orange cover (not sure if it is still that color though).

Swtooth

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Dec 26, 2006

dr. dubin's book is the one that i bought when i was first learning to read ekgs and was working on a stepdown unit back in the early 1980's. it's a good book that's been around a long time. when people asked about ekg books i used to recommend it until someone mentioned something about not wanting to buy any of his products because of his legal problems. i never understood what that was all about. but 25 years ago there weren't all that many references out there like there are today and rapid interpretation of ekgs was what was recommended.

the way i was told to approach analyzing ekgs was to learn the normal pathway of an electrical impulse and all the physical structures of the heart that it travels through. the aberrent pathway an electrical impulse takes defines each arrhythmia. the other unique thing about the heart that was constantly pounded into me from day one at the cardiac monitors was that the heart goes bad from the top down, so you first start to see problems in the atria, then the junctional tissue and finally in the ventricles. the heart, lucky for us, takes a lot of wear before it finally peters out.

NURSJADED · Dec 26, 2006

this is a great site to practice ekg's:

skillstat's learning tools

if you have the opportunity to take any of aieme's courses on it they're great!

EricJRN, MSN, RN · Dec 26, 2006

You will find that Dubin's book comes highly recommended by many, but his past (related to cocaine, child sexual issues and revocation of his license to practice plastic surgery) has garnered a lot of negative attention and many people shy away from his book as a result. Ex:

Urban Legends Reference Pages: College (Salted Treat)

I did have an old version of Dubin's book several years ago. While the lessons were interesting, I just didn't think there were enough practice strips included to develop pattern recognition and make the lessons stick for me.

Editorial Team / Admin · Dec 26, 2006

check out this link in the ccu forum: helpful information for the unit

many of the suggestions (skillstat, dubin's book) are found in above.

good luck.

VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN · Dec 26, 2006

Free articles on ECG's:

Understanding the 12-lead ECG, part I

Understanding the 12-lead ECG, part II

wkucu1 · Dec 26, 2006

thank you so much for all that responded! what a great resource this is! over this christmas break, i will review all of this information and be ready for my last semester!!