Cardiac Patient Scenario

[ZanatuBelmont]

I promise this is not a workbook question! Simply something that popped into my head.

Upon starting your clinical rotation, the nurse giving you report tells you that you have a patient with heart disease - past MI, diseased heart vales and right and left sided heart failure. With JUST this in mind, you walk into the patient room. What do you do first and why?

Wouldn't I quickly glance head to toe at the patient to check for emergency issues, ask how he/she is feeling, then once I've established he/she is "OK" I would excuse myself to look into his/her chart to find out what I have to do for him that day? And of course, keep monitoring him/her throughout my clinical rotation.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

Always remember the nursing process. Step #1 is Assess. You can never collect too much information. We are always on a hunt for more of it. In the real world, we are multi-tasking all the time, however. When I first walk into a patient's room I am taking in and noting all kinds of information. I am doing a quick head to toe visual check, looking at the IV and making sure it is patent, making sure the bed and side rails are up, making sure the call bell is in the patient's reach, greeting the patient and probably taking vital signs, going over their itinerary for the day to make sure we are both on the same page and asking them if there is something that they need before I go. No moment is wasted.