I have a Pathophysiology Question

marktheawesome · Mar 11, 2009

electrolyte imbalance? I am not sure what your teacher wants with the lack of information given. I know Hyperkalemia and Hypocalcemia can cause tachycardia but I have no idea if the pulse would be weak or strong.

Do you have a nursing diagnosis handbook? Those typically do a wonderful job on something like this.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

No, I don't start the RN program until the fall but I am taking Patho and 3 credit Nutrition now to get it out of the way.

Isn't the definition of Tachycardia a Rapid but Weak Pulse? I am hoping my mom can ask her Doc for me today that she works for. It's frustrating that I can find tons of information saying that MI can cause Tachycardia but not why!! Maybe I should rephrase my wording in my search.

Anyway, thank you for trying to help.

Jolie, BSN · Mar 11, 2009

Can you discuss the effects of a cardiac arrhythmia (secondary to an MI) on the rate and strength of the patient's pulse?

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

I don't think so, he makes it a point to not give long drawn out answers and says way to many students over think the answers, so reading the question I am guessing he only wants a brief answer as to why MI would cause a rapid but weak pulse.

I was able to find in my notes a small blurb on the increased rate do to the heart trying to overcompensate from the damage. Which is pretty much what I said but it doesn't say why it's also weak, but logically I would think it's because of the overcompensation and damage. It will not be as strong as it would be on a healthy heart.

I wish my neighbor was home, he is a Cardiac Nurse. lol

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

i'm not being mean, but really, by your own admission you didn't look anything up and came up with "because his heart is damaged". for a pathophysiology class you need to be able to track exactly what has gone wrong with the anatomy and physiology because each deviation from the normal process produces a specific sign or symptom. "damaged" isn't going to cut it with your instructor who wants "to the point answers" and i think you already know that.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

In a previous question before this one it was asked what was the likely cause to the MI, so I already answered for him what initially caused the damage and specified what the likely damage was. His questions build on the previous questions and he goes over in class exactly what he is looking for with each question, in this question he told us to specify why this damage that we previously answered would cause these two symptoms.

You are right though, I am did not find anything that said the damage causes this because....., I didn't find anything that gave a WHY period.

BabyLady, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

.
Isn't the definition of Tachycardia a Rapid but Weak Pulse? I am hoping my mom can ask her Doc for me today that she works for. It's frustrating that I can find tons of information saying that MI can cause Tachycardia but not why!! Maybe I should rephrase my wording in my search

Tachycardia is a heart rate over 100 bpm.

You can have a rapid and rising pulse rate (determined from a baseline) and not have tachycardia.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

Tachycardia is a heart rate over 100 bpm.
You can have a rapid and rising pulse rate (determined from a baseline) and not have tachycardia.

I understand that, but we were told that Mr. X had Tachycardia which is defined as a rapid but weak pulse, he never got into other reasons one would have both those symptoms and not have tachycardia , so I assume for this particular case study we are going off the Pt. having Tachycardia.

I will just go with my gut and if I get the answer wrong I will find out what the right answer was and learn from it. I have done really well on these thus far so it just was bugging me that I can't find any info answering the why to check if my answer is right.

Thanks for those trying to help. I appreciate it.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

an mi results in oxygen deprivation to cardiac cells fed by the involved artery. when the cardiac cells infarct, or die, it results in disruption of both the electrical pathway and muscular (pumping) ability of the heart, specific of those involved cells. [this is the damage you were talking about.] the extent of this damage will be determined by the size of the infarcted tissue. arrhythmias and decreased heart contractility result. with decreased contractility less volume of blood (decreased output) is being pumped out of the heart with each beat. the heart compensates for this by increasing its rate (tachycardia). the brain detects this increased heart rate and responds. tachycardia, to the brain, is a signal that more oxygen is needed by the cells of the body and respirations will increase to meet this demand.

JenRN30, BSN · Mar 11, 2009

Jackie, tachycardia is a rapid pulse over 100 beats per minute. When someone has tachycardia, there is not enough time for the heart to fill with the normal amount of blood. So, when the heart pumps, less blood is ejected into the arterial system. This causes the weak pulse. Less volume causes lower pressures. Hope this helps clarify the weak pulse part.

~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN · Mar 11, 2009

Jackie, tachycardia is a rapid pulse over 100 beats per minute. When someone has tachycardia, there is not enough time for the heart to fill with the normal amount of blood. So, when the heart pumps, less blood is ejected into the arterial system. This causes the weak pulse. Less volume causes lower pressures. Hope this helps clarify the weak pulse part.

Thank you, I just finished my case study and came back here and saw this, before even reading this I put this as my answer,

4) Mr. X had a rapid HR when he was admitted because his heart was trying to compensate for the damage that had occurred, it was having to work much harder to function which increased his heart rate, it was a weak because it still was not working efficiently and because of the hardening or blockage he had low blood volume decreasing cardiac output.