Ekg Nightmare, Must B An Easier Way

[Furoffire]

my ears are back now. i am trying to get a handle on studying ekg's. yesterday between 2 books i fell asleep. this is serious, i need to get them under my pelt. is there an online fun verion or any recommendations to learning the hundred different strips? right now i am in the middle of sa node blocks and wondering how they will differ when i hit the av nodal blocks and all the junctional nightmares. will time help at work? will i look stud-id for not learning them fast? my fear is that the monitor tech will hand me a strip and i need to know what it is and call the doctor after an assessment etc.:angryfire furoffire...........................................................

[angelamegg]

There is a book that really matches its title...EKG's made plain and simple

[chadash]

Here is some real simple practice:

http://www.skillstat.com/Flash/ECG_Sim_022505.html

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

check out this sticky in the ccu forum helpful information for the unit

great info for ecg's.

[chadash]

and here is another one http://www.randylarson.com/acls/master/rhythmst.html

[HappyNurse2005, RN]

and here is another one http://www.randylarson.com/acls/master/rhythmst.html

i like this one, especially the last page :)

[rjflyn, ASN, RN]

Yeah there is- dont go so deep. As I recall the last time I took an EKG test associated with ACLS there were only 23 or 26 rhythms on it. To go in to much more detail frankly may be over kill. Yeah if your the ARNP assisting a cardiologist you might want to go futher.

More important tends to be how slow or fast, lethal or non-leathal, and whats the patients reaction to said rhythm. As an example Atrial Fibrillation, A-fib at 150+ and low BP not good; A-Fib at 70-90 with a good BP not ideal but nothing to stress over to much.

Course all this is the rhythm portion of EKG's, 12 leads are a whole other story. Again more important here is 1) is the patient having an acute MI, 2) is there significant changes from the previous ones.

Rj

[chachh, BSN, RN]

try richacls.com. Has fun tutorials and you can see what the heart is doing. After awhile, reading strips will become easy. And if you don't know, ask. Never a stupid question, especially re someones rhythm.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

try some of these sites:

http://www.gwc.maricopa.edu/class/bio202/cyberheart/cardio.htm - - cyberheart from professor crimando at gateway community college in phoenix, az. ekg review and an animated heart quiz.

http://rnbob.tripod.com/#section_3_cardiology_in_critical_care - section 3 of this website, nurse bob's micu/ccu survival guide, will help you identify all whole bunch of different rhythms and arrhythmias. nice clear rhythm strips are posted here. the site also covers a host of icu procedures, an extensive section on critical medications organized by categories, fluids and electrolytes, shock, and more!

http://www.kauaicc.hawaii.edu/nursing/ekg/tutorial/tutorial.htm ekg interpretation for healthcare professionals from kaua'i community college nursing school

http://www.kauaicc.hawaii.edu/nursing/ekg/tutorial/lytes.htm - electrolyte and medications: effect on ekgs from kaua'i community college nursing school is just one section from the above site

http://www.skillstat.com/ecg_sim_demo.html - an online simulator that will show and explain what 25 of the most common cardiac rhythms look like on a monitor. you can stop the strips so you can study the tracings. there is also a little game you can play with the simulator.

http://www.skillstat.com/sixsecondecg.htm - six second ekg workbook online. lot of good information including pictures, pictures to label and quizzes.

[Furoffire]

meow :balloons: during my study time i will check out all the web sites, thanks for all the help .

i will try not to "curl up." if i do, i will need the help of "rampart," i remember that show every well! kitty pie.

[Antikigirl, ASN, RN]

I found this book at work, and love it...it is called "Flip and See ECG" and all us nurses LOVE it! We have it right by the main monitors so that if one baffles you a bit...you can look it up quickly. It was written by nurses!

I have a link to it, and you can see a few sample pages. It is written very simply, and even has little comics in it to lighten the mood (and they are funny!). I hopefully will be getting one soon...I think all nurses that will be dealing or learning cardiac should have this one!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0721658342/sr=8-1/qid=1148658090/ref=sr_1_1/103-2167515-8546208?%5Fencoding=UTF8

[Antikigirl, ASN, RN]

My hubby (paramedic) suggested this site too!

http://www.ecglibrary.com/ecghome.html

It shows many things, and a really cool one, a Piggy Back heart monitor strip...talk about funky!