Acute Heart Failure

Nearly 5.1 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with heart failure. Yet so many people don’t have a clue what it is until they have been diagnosed with it. Congestive Heart Failure, or CHF, is a disease that has many symptoms, can be tested and treated, has several causes, and can be avoided.

A resident at the time saw that although there is a hearty amount of evidence that illustrates that adhering to heart failure guidelines decreases the rate of mortality and morbidity, nationally there is modest adherence to heart failure practice guidelines. Doctors have voiced a multitude of reasons to this poor participation including but not limited to time constraints in a visit, inertia of patterns in practice, lack of awareness and lack of acceptance are a few. This new web-based tool, the “Smart” Heart failure sheet is designed to help connect previously compartmentalized information. It seeks to link guidelines to their patients’ clinical and laboratory characteristics and systematize adherence to heart failure guidelines. It accomplishes this by uploading pertinent patient-specific data, including laboratory and imaging results, procedure reports and relevant medications. Additionally it also provides tools, such as a flow chart for diuretic dosage and weights. Overall this tool is useful to help physicians identify patients who may benefit from a treatment. From there it provides support tools that alert the physician to a personalized medical treatment. The “Smart” Heart Failure Sheet acts as a registry for scholarly research and also provides educational resources to expand providers’ knowledge, thereby improving patient care (Battaglia,

Providing patients diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure effective teaching can eliminate reoccurring hospitalizations. Patients are discharged with CHF and readmitted within 30 days. The information provided will examine the process of enhancing patient knowledge and provide additional resources essential for effective health care management. Research evidence provides data that proves patients who are diagnosed with CHF needs a variety of health care needs during admission and after discharge. The proposal will display an evaluation plan, implementation plan and a dissemination of the

Situation: Two patients in their 70s present to the office at different times today, each with documented heart failure: one diastolic and the other systolic, and both are hypertensive. First, discuss the difference between systolic and diastolic heart failure, providing appropriate pathophysiology. ACEI/ARBs are the only medications prescribed for CHF that have been found to prolong life and improve the quality of that life. EXPLAIN the mechanism of action of ACEI/ARBs and how they affect morbidity and mortality in CHF. Be specific. Diuretics must be used very carefully in diastolic ventricular dysfunction. EXPLAIN this statement using appropriate physiology. Now considering all of the above, describe an appropriate comprehensive plan of

Varying patients may present to their clinician or the emergency department for treatment with heart failure. It is important to understand that there is more than one type of heart failure; primarily the focus is placed on diastolic heart failure and systolic heart failure. Depending upon the cause of heart failure and what areas are affected dictates the treatment plan needed. While there are similarities with both kinds of heart failure, there are also differences that can help the clinician distinguish the diagnosis needed to fit the patient. Once a diagnosis is made the clinician can move forward in determining if the patient is at risk for use of diuretics and then look towards prescribing ACEIs, ARBs, and beta-blockers.

CHF is the most frequent diagnosis at initial discharge that results in readmission. In 2009, Medicare began publicly reporting hospitals risk-standardized, all 30 day readmission rates among fee-for-service beneficiaries discharged after heart failure hospitalization from all United States acute care hospitals. That same year the average 30 day readmission rate for Medicare patients diagnosed with CHF was 21.2 %. Readmission rates six months post discharge are estimated around 44 %. Noncompliance with medication contributes to 65 % of patients admitted with exacerbation of CHF. It has been estimated that one quarter to one third of exacerbation of CHF admissions are preventable. A prior analysis of MedPac reported that 76 % of readmissions were preventable (Jencks, Williams, & Coleman, 2009). Variations in estimates of this proportion may reflect variances in the quality of care; it is also a result of subjective criteria used to demonstrate an avoidable readmission. The association between

Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patients and their consistent trending of hospital re-admissions continue to threaten quality care and patient quality of life. Considered a chronic condition, CHF is diagnosed in approximately 13% of patients 85 or older (Clarke, Shah & Sharma, 2011). Re-admissions have become so prevalent among the CHF populations, that Centers for Medicare has initiated a quality campaign and offers incentives when hospitals implement telemedicine programs and show reduction in CHF hospital admissions. In relation to CHF, Conway, Inglis, and Clark (2014) states that, “Telemedicine involves transmission of physiological data, such as weight, … from the measuring device to a central server via telephonic, satellite,

Heart failure affects nearly 6 million Americans. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in people older than 65. Roughly 550,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure each year (Emory Healthcare, 2014). Heart failure is a pathologic state where the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the demand of the body’s metabolic needs or when the ventricle’s ability to fill is impaired. It is not a disease, but rather a complex clinical syndrome. The symptoms of heart failure come from pulmonary vascular congestion and inadequate perfusion of the systemic circulation. Individuals experience orthopnea,

For years health care providers have been using drugs like beta blockers or ACE inhibitors to treat patients with heart failure, but with cardiovascular disease still being a leading cause of death, it is evident that current treatments have been lacking the ability to produce adequate results. However, with the newest heart failure drug on the market a positive change has finally come for heart failure patients. The new heart failure drug reigns far more superior when compared to the treatments healthcare professionals already use and can potentially alter the foundation of heart failure treatments altogether.

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a situation where the heart is not able to pump adequate blood to the other organs of the body. Causes of CHF are coronary artery disease, past myocardial infarction, hypertension, heart valve disease, cardiomyopathy, congenital heart defects, endocarditis and myocarditis (American heart association, 2013) .In the case scenario of Mr. P 76 year old man comes with the history of cardiomyopathy and CHF and in the past repeatedly admitted for the management of CHF symptoms. This essay discusses about approach to care, treatment plan, patient and family education and teaching plan that is given to Mr.P.

In 2012, my cousin suffered a severe heart attack which lead to heart failure. After witnessing someone I love suffer a life-changing event, it was important to find ways in which I could help. During her time in the hospital I cared for her children, encouraging them to remain positive around their mother, explaining how important their presence was to her recovery. I assisted in organizing a fundraiser that provided financial benefits for medical expenses. An extended hospital stay can create a feeling of isolation, and the fundraiser served as a physical reminder of the amount of support she had behind her during this battle. Childcare and fundraising were both pivotal ways in which I made a difference, but being present with my cousin at

In year 2000 and 2010, an estimated 1 million hospitalizations for Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), of which most of these hospitalizations were for those aged 65 and over, the share of CHF hospitalizations for those under age 65 increased from 23% to 29% over this time period (Hall, Levant, & DeFrances, 2012). According to Held (2009), acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) ensues when cardiac output fails to meet the demand of the body’s metabolic needs. The fluid volume overload makes the unstable condition necessitates instant treatment for the reason that it impairs perfusion to systemic organs, endangering their function.

M.G., a “frequent fl ier,” is admitted to the emergency department (ED) with a diagnosis of heart failure

Sensing process is the initial stage of our process. Heart problems like Chronic Heart Failure Disease affected people have 70% of possibility to cause of critical heart failure i.e. Acute Decompensated Heart Failure (ADHF). The concept of outpatient monitoring for early detection and treatment of ADHF is not new. However, the question of which parameters to monitor and what specific detection strategies should be used to prevent hospitalization has not been adequately addressed. Symptoms such as orthopnea and physical examination signs such as pulmonary rales, peripheral edema, and elevated jugular venous pressure reflect increased ventricular filling pressures and vascular congestion and are often used for the diagnosis of ADHF. However,

As the population ages heart failure is expected to increase exceptionally. About twenty-two percent of men and forty-four percent of women will develop heart failure within six years of having a heart attack. “Thirty years ago patients would have died from their heart attacks!” (Couzens)