Apex heartbeat help

dabears54 · Nov 27, 2011

In my head I say lub-dub 1, lub-dub 2, lub-dub 3. However, this is very difficult to do when your patient is tachy, and it can sometimes be a tongue twister. Just keep practicing :)

Paws2people · Nov 27, 2011

Thanks :) I don't know why I am struggling more so than my classmates... Very frustrating!!

DennRN · Nov 27, 2011

Had this same problem for a while, if you can't kick the habit just count them like you are doing and divide by two once you have counted the full minute.

Paws2people · Nov 27, 2011

Had this same problem for a while, if you can't kick the habit just count them like you are doing and divide by two once you have counted the full minute.

Thanks, I will try that. Eventually you just kicked the habit I take it?

DennRN · Dec 2, 2011

Yes, after a while it became easy. I just transitioned to listening for moment while the second hand of my watch moves to a position I'll be able to remember. While I'm doing this I listen to the speed/tempo like it's music. The first few times I did this I imagined a metronome swinging back and forth and only counted the swings to the right. Do this a few times with an automatic bp cuff on and you will see you will be within a beat or two. After a few more times you should be able to count out out an abnormal hr with no issue.

Mainly it will come down to listening and letting go of your self doubt.

Paws2people · Dec 2, 2011

Thanks! I will try that :)

systoly · Dec 2, 2011

Maybe this will help. Take the bulb of a BP cuff in your hand, don't tighten the valve screw, squeeze and release the cuff to the rhythm of a heartbeat and count only the squeezes not the release. If you're into music, imagine a simple 4/4 measure where the first note or heartbeat is 1/8 of a measure and the second note is 1/4 of a measure and count only the 1/8 notes.

Paws2people · Dec 2, 2011

Interesting concept... Makes sense :)