The patient comes to the emergency department complaining of ...

[Collmarie]

The patient comes to the emergency department complaining of coughing and difficulty breathing. The patient's diagnosis is heart failure. He asks the nurse how difficulty breathing could be a heart problem. What is the best response by the nurse?
 
  1. The right side of your heart has weakened and blood has entered your lungs.
  2. The right side of your heart has enlarged and cannot effectively pump blood.
  3. What you have is called congestive heart failure.
  4. The left side of your heart is weak and pumps blood too quickly.
  5. The left side of your heart has weakened and blood has entered your lungs.

Question 2

The patient has hypertension and asks the nurse how this can lead to heart failure. What is the best response by the nurse?
 
  1. Hypertension causes resistance in your blood vessels, or afterload; your heart works harder, and weakens.
  2. Hypertension limits the ability of your heart to stretch before emptying, or afterload; your heart works harder, and weakens.
  3. Hypertension causes resistance in your aorta, or afterload; your heart works harder and weakens.
  4. Hypertension limits the amount of blood entering your left ventricle, or afterload; your heart works harder, and weakens.

[guyanai]

Answer to Question 1

Correct Answer: 3,5
Rationale: When the left ventricle cannot compensate for increased preload, blood backs up into the lungs resulting in cough and shortness of breath. Left heart failure is sometimes called congestive heart failure. Left-sided, not right-sided, heart failure is associated with pulmonary congestion. Right-sided heart failure results in peripheral edema, not pulmonary congestion. Heart failure results from the inability of the left ventricle to pump blood, not pumping blood too quickly.

Answer to Question 2

Correct Answer: 1
Rationale: The most common cause of increased afterload is an increase in peripheral resistance due to hypertension. Afterload refers to peripheral resistance, not to the amount of blood entering the left ventricle. The ability of the heart to stretch before entering is known as preload, not afterload. Afterload refers to peripheral resistance, not to resistance in the aorta.

[Collmarie]

Both answers were spot on, thank you once again

[guyanai]

Great! Please up vote