Heart Failure Assignment ... help !!!

Hi Tommy,

We usually don't mind helping out with questions, but we're probably not going to do your assignment for you.

The way your post is phrased, it almost looks like you simply copied the assigned questions verbatim and are now sitting back in your chair at the computer, waiting for an answer.

Tell us how far you've gotten in answering this problem, please.

Thanks for the websites Karen! It helped me heaps. Angie, I should have posed the question appropriately. Just wanted some advice on where to find information on the internet to help with my assignment. Cheers.

Hi guys, need some assistance in the questions below. Thanks!

Nikki, a "frequent flier," is admitted to the emergency department with a diagnosis of heart failure. She was discharged from the hospital 12 days ago and comes in today stating, "I just had to come to the hospital today because I can't catch my breath and my legs are as big as tree trunks."

After further questioning you learn she is not strictly following the fluid and salt restriction ordered during her last hospital admission. She reports she has been gaining up to1 kg every day since her discharge.

1. What error in teaching most likely occurred when Nikki was discharged 12 days ago?

You chart the medications Nikki brought with her: enalapril (Amprace) 5 mg bd, digoxin o.125mg qid, rosiglitazone (Avandia) 4 mg, frusemide (Lasix) 40mg qid, Potassium Chloride 20mEq qid. The admitting physician orders all the medications but changes.the frusemide 40mg to 40mg intravenous push qid and 80 mg intravenously now.

2. What is the rationale for changing the method of administering frusemide?

3. You administer 80 mg frusemide IVP. Identify three strategies you would use to monitor the effectiveness of this medication.

Most heart failure admissions are related to fluid volume overload. Patients who do not require intensive care monitoring can most often be treated initially with IV diuretics, oxygen, and angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors.

4. How do ACE inhibitors help in CHF?

5. Nikki's symptoms improve with intravenous (IV) diuretics. She is ordered back on oral frusemide once her weight loss is deemed adequate to achieve a euvolemic state. What will determine if the oral dose will be adequate to consider her for discharge?

6. Nikki is ready for discharge. What key management concepts should be taught to prevent relapse and another admission?

You should try to answer these questions yourself as this is the foundation of Heart failure. Why don't you answer them and then people can comment on why your answer ir right?

Every one of those questions should be found in your textboook, and an understanding of the pathophys of HF.