EKG is an electrocardiogram, a machine used to check on problems with your electrical activity with your heart. An electrocardiogram machine translates the heart’s electrical pattern into lines that specific professionals can read it. The first EKG was made by Willem Einthoven, a Dutch Java island (now called Indonesia) born citizen. Willem was born the 21st day of May 1860. His father, Jacob Einthoven, was born and educated in Groningen (Netherlands). His father was also
The heart is one of the most important organs in an organism’s body, no matter if they are aquatic, amphibian, or a mammal. This super organ works automatically, able to pump massive amounts of oxygen rich blood through the body by means of electrical impulses and the opening and closing of valves within its many layers. It is what keeps us and every other creature on this earth alive; so it is only natural for one to fear when there might be a problem with one’s heart. A cardiac arrhythmia can happen to anyone, no matter the age, race, or gender, and as such, doctors and scientist have spent years trying to better understand the heart and the way it functions so that they can try to prevent these problems and save millions of lives.
Recording an electrocardiogram or ECG, is a procedure which is performed daily all over the United Kingdom by thousands of healthcare workers and in particular nurses (Jacobson, 2000). The way in which this procedure is performed varies from geographical location to location and occasionally even more so, between staff on the same ward (Amos, 2000). This reason stated by Amos (2000), formed the basis of my decision to choose this topic.
The heart rate is measured with an electrocardiogram, or ECG. This is a machine that measures the electrical impulses from the patient's heart. This is displayed on a monitor or ECG graph paper. The boxes on the graph paper measure time. Five small boxes are equal to one large box. The large box represents two-tenths of a second.
An EKG technician (also known as an electrocardiogram technician) basically operates hospital equipment known as an electrocardiogram. This machine is attached to a patient via rods known as electrodes. They attach these electrodes to read a patient's heart rhythm and other heart activities. This information is then printed out by the technician and passed on to the physician for analysis and diagnosis. The EKG tech usually works in hospitals and clinics as part of a medical team treating a patient. They continually monitor a patient's heart activities and send the results to physicians. How to become an EKG
African American male that is seen today for followup post hospital discharge. He is a 48-year-old gentleman with complicated cardiac history as well as neurological history including congestive heart failure. History of strokes 01/2017, possible sick sinus syndrome. He has an implanted pacemaker that was placed in 06/2017, as well as hypertension. He was taken to the Central Hospital on 09/01 with presentation of chest pain, noted to be around his pacemaker site. He identified being in seizure and suddenly felt chest pain with shortness of breath, and was offered nitro, he developed headaches and dyspnea post nitro treatment, of note is that the EKG that was obtained during that process, did not identify any pacemaker spike despite having a
A number of tests would be performed to analyze the extent of damage of the heart. An electrocardiogram would be one of the first tests performed to check the electrical
An ECG/EKG Technician monitor their patient's heart by performing a procedure that is harmless. They run several diagnostic heart test to patients that are going into surgery. ECG/EKG techs also run test on people with heart problems, the test helps them identify and monitor any medical problems that relate to the heart.
This season’s “When Calls the Heart” has been a pageant of new faces and storylines while still tackling real world issues with a family-friendly theme. One such story unreservedly enthralled me when the character of Edith admitted that her husband, Roy, had deserted her. As the woman who has infused the character of Edith with such credibility, thus engendering much sympathy, Ali Milner has a multi-faceted career in addition to this cherished role. Recently, Ali took a break from her hectic schedule in order to chat with me about her character on the popular Hallmark show and so much more.
Using a stethoscope can pick out a heart murmur. Each murmur has a slightly different sound to it and you have to train yourself to be able to differentiate between them.
Great post. I like the points you outlined about assessment of Mr. J. You started with maintaining ABC’s to checking lower extremities pulses to ensure that it is not cut off by the tight constrictive band of the eschar. ECG should be monitored at least the first 24 hours because Mr. J is prone to cardiac arrest due to high electrical voltage injury. Fluid resuscitation with 14 or 16 gauge preferably through unburned tissue, and infusion of lactated Ringer’s solution will help to prevent shock. Assessment of vital signs and pain is very important, the nurse should also assess for history of tetanus immunization because burn wounds are prone to tetanus. Mr.’s brief medical history is important in case he has any allergies, current medical
Some important concerns when placing ECG electrodes on a patient are making sure the patient does not have long thick hair where the electrode needs to go. If there is hair, it needs to be shaved in that area. Also if the patient is oily or wet, they should be cleaned and dried off before electrodes are placed on the body. It is important that the ECG leads are placed correctly because you need to get the correct result from the leads. The consequences of incorrect placements are that you can get the wrong results. By not putting the electrodes in the right place, it can completely throw off the right result which can cause doctors to not worry when they should. The medical assistant can take steps to ensure the ECG reading accurate by going
Hi, Tammy. Thank you for responding to my post. After researching the topic of phonocardiography, if I were an OB/GYN nurse practitioner wanting to bring this type of technology into my practice I would research what evidence-based studies have shown. Upon my research to answer your question, I do not believe that I would choose this type of testing for my practice. There are multiple flaws and limitations with phonocardiography. Consequently, phonocardiography is known to give high rates of false positive test results (Romano, Bifulco, Luppariello, Clemente, D’addio, & Cesarelli. Phonocardiography also does not have the ability to detect some of the major cardiac anomalies (Romano et al., 2015). Therefore, I would choose a more conventional
The pericardium is a potential space that may be filled with fluid, blood, pus or, uncommonly, air. Echocardiography is the test of choice for the diagnosis of pericardial disease. In the ICU setting, the most common clinical indication for assessment of the pericardial space is suspected tamponade. The presence of fluid in this space is detected as an echo-free space. Pericardial fluid is usually easily detected with transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). The parasternal long- and short-axis and apical views will usually reveal the effusion.
The electrocardiogram (EKG) is a simple test that measures the heart's electrical activity (Donahue p. 35). The most widely used screening test is the exercise EKG, or stress test.