Congestive Heart Failure Summary

The prevalence of congestive heart failure is on the increase both in the United States and all over the world, and it is the leading cause of hospitalization in the elderly population. Congestive heart failure is a progressive disease generally seen in the elderly, which if not properly managed, can lead to repeated hospital admissions or death. Heart failure means that the heart muscle is weakened. A weakened heart muscle may not be strong enough to pump an adequate amount of blood out of its chambers. To compensate for its diminished pumping capacity, the heart may enlarge. Commonly, the heart's pumping inefficiency causes a buildup of blood in the

Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition in which the heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood through to meet the body 's needs for blood and oxygen. Basically, the heart can 't keep up with its workload. American Heart Association Statistics (2016) reveals that heart failure accounts for 36% of cardiovascular disease deaths. Projections report a 46% increase in the prevalence of Heart Failure (HF) by 2030 by affecting over 8 million people above 18 years with the disease. Healthy People 2020 goals are focused on attaining high quality longer lives free of preventable diseases, promotion of quality of life, healthy development and healthy behaviors across all stages of life (Healthy People 2020, 2015).

ECG: sinus tachycardia with waveform abnormalities consistent with LVH, Pronounced Q waves consistent with pulmonary edema.

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.

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,

When nursing any patient with heart failure it is important to have an understanding of how the heart should work to understand how it stops working correctly. This knowledge is important as writtler (2006) (cited in Jones) feels that district nurses have little knowledge when it comes to heart failure. Patient, Writler (2006) feels that by understanding how the heart works and how it is damaged we, as district nurses will be able to recognise the signs of heart failure earlier7a?.

Working on a cardiac unit for seven years has given me the opportunity to become familiar with congestive heart failure. This is a complicated condition that is sometimes difficult to manage. Your first questions is an excellent question, one that is extremely important when caring for these individuals with congestive heart failure. Without complete understanding of congestion heart failure, patients are frequently readmitted due to poor medical management. Caring for these individuals usually focus on treatments including the delicate balance of intake and output, medications and diagnostic testing. Your question regarding how CHF has impacted a person’s life focuses on the psychological aspect of this condition. Although

Risk factors play a role to cause congestive heart failure, but if having more than one of the risk factors, it increases one's risk. According to Daniel lee Kulick and Benjamin Wedro, Congestive heart failure is often a consequence of atherosclerotic heart disease and therefore the risk factors are the same. Poorly controlled high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, and family history are all contributors to being a risk factor of congestive heart failure. Heart valve disease becomes a risk factor of the patient throughout the years. Other causes of heart failure have their own set of risk factors and preferences and it becomes problem to those diseases.

Congestive heart hailure, also known as CHF or heart failure, affects the lives of 5 million Americans each year with 550,000 new cases diagnosed yearly. (Emory healthcare, 2013) CHF is a medical condition in which the heart has become weak and cannot pump enough blood to meet the need for oxygen rich blood required by the vital organs of the body, less blood is pumped out of the heart to the organs and tissues in the body and pressure in the heart increases, it does not mean the heart has stopped working. (Murphy, 2013) Once the heart has become weakened by conditions such as hypertension, abnormal heart

Rising health care cost and stricter regulations for insurance reimbursement plans have pushed health care leaders to re-evaluate health care services. One focus is reducing hospital readmission rates for chronic disease process (Bos-Touwen et al, 2015). Congestive heart failure is one of the leading causes of hospital readmission (Cubbon et al, 2014). Fifteen million people worldwide have a diagnosis of CHF. In addition, 15-20% of those with the diagnosis of CHF are hospitalized yearly (Sahebi et al, 2015). In 2010, 40 billion dollars was spent on health care needs for CHF patients. Seventy percent of the resources were for hospital services (Siabani, Driscoll, Davidson, and Leeder, 2014). The need for streamline healthcare for CHF patients is imperative to improve overall patient outcomes and reduce the amount of hospital readmission rates.

Congestive Heart Failure is when the heart's pumping power is weaker than normal. It does not mean the heart has stopped working. The blood moves through the heart and body at a slower rate, and pressure in the heart increases. This means; the heart cannot pump enough oxygen and nutrients to meet the body's needs. The chambers of the heart respond by stretching to hold more blood to pump through the body or by becoming more stiff and thickened. This only keeps the blood moving for a short while. The heart muscle walls weaken and are unable to pump as strongly. This makes the kidneys respond by causing the body to retain fluid and sodium. When the body builds up with fluids, it becomes congested. Many conditions can cause heart

For patients with existing symptoms of heart disease, the nurses role may include helping to identify risk factors and lifestyle habits that have led to the disease, as well as obtaining and documenting vital signs and diagnostic tests used to determine the extent of the disease. Education on identification of significant symptoms and the proper subsequent actions will play a major role in the patient’s ability to advocate for themselves and help them determine when it is necessary to seek care. Nursing responsibilities in caring for a patient already experiencing chronic heart failure, like the one being discussed in this review, include specialized cardiac monitoring, monitoring of vital signs and major organ function, post-procedure care, assessment and care of surgical incisions, administration of medications, managing patient anxiety and compliance, and patient education. Discharge is perhaps the most critical educational opportunity for nurses dealing with HF patients. The level of patient self care and symptom recognition and management after discharge is a significant factor relating to the prevalence of readmittance to the hospital and death in HF patients (Barnason, Zimmerman, and Young, 2011). Barnason, Zimmerman and Young (2011) reveal that one of the factors affecting the compliance with self care actions by heart failure patients is the amount of nurse directed

Therapeutic measures for a patient with congestive heart failure would be daily weights, dietary sodium restrictions, positioning in high or semi-Fowler’s position, frequent vital signs, oxygen by cannula or mask, medical devices: pacemakers, internal cardiac defibrillator, biventricular cardiac pacemaker, ventricular assist device, medications: digoxin, diuretics, inotropes, nesiritide, beta blockers, surgery: heart valve repair or replacement, coronary

Diagnosed with Congestive cardiomyopathy implies that the patient’s heart muscle has been debilitated by ailment and cannot sufficiently pump blood through the heart, which can lead to heart failure (“Columbia University Medical Center”, 2016). In this case study, the current situation of a male patient Mr. P., who is 76 years old, and frequently hospitalized with CHF is given. The purpose of this paper is to describe an approach to care with treatment plan recommendation, provide education to both the patient and his family, and a teaching plan.

Congestive heart failure is a chronic disease that requires daily monitoring and life style management. Affecting the elderly, and their family the adjustment is a challenge. Daily life skills include the monitoring of daily weights, intake and output, and a low sodium diet. The person with congestive heart failure is generally admitted to the hospital for medication adjustments when their symptoms increase. The patient is often times short of breath, with a decrease in energy and an increase in their weight. The patients are generally elderly 60-65 years of age or older, and when comparing African Americans to Caucasians the African Americans have a 1.5 greater chance of developing heart failure ("Heart Failure," 2017). The