So I'm new to ICU/CCU nursing. I'm completely confused by MI's and Cardiac Arrest. I've been asking my preceptors, but one tells me one thing while the other tells me something different. I go back to the cath lab and they tell me something different. All of the nurses I've precepted with have 30-40 years of experience, so I'm not sure what to believe. My question is this.
I truly don't get two things: why can someone come in with CP and another be coding? If the plaque on the walls is too thick that blood can't pass through, it's an MI, correct? If a embolus breaks off and clots a coronary, it's an MI, correct? What causes the heart to just suddenly stop, while others can go days without the heart actually stop? What's the patho I guess is what I'm asking. I just don't get what's going on in the body that some code and other just have an MI.
Secondonly, what happens in the body that differentiates between a STEMI and NSTEMI? Some told me the area of the heart it happens in, others told me it depends if it's an embolus or just plaque build up.
I just don't get heart attacks currently. I came from a medsurg floor so this is all COMPLETELY new to me. Thanks in advance!