A patient on a telemetry monitor reports feeling like the heart ...

[lak]

A patient on a telemetry monitor reports feeling like the heart is skipping beats, and asks the nurse what could be causing this. What is the nurse's best response?
 
  a. Have you been exercising recently?
  b. Do you notice any other symptoms when your heart skips beats?
  c. You will have to tell your prescriber about this and ask him or her what is the cause.
  d. Let me first listen to your heart, measure your blood pressure, and check your heart monitor.

Question 2

How does the drop factor affect IV infusions?
 
  a. Fluid with a larger drop factor infuses more slowly than fluid with a smaller drop factor.
  b. Smaller drop factors occur with smaller needles (or cannulas) and larger drop factors occur with larger needles.
  c. The smaller the drop factor, the fewer the number of drops needed to administer 1 mL of infusion fluid.
  d. The larger the drop factor, the fewer the number of drops needed to administer 1 mL of infusion fluid.

[gasdhashg]

Answer to Question 1

D
To answer the patient's question, the nurse needs to gather more information including heart rhythm, blood pressure, and ECG tracing. The nurse may also want to notify the prescriber about the patient's sensation of skipped heart beats.

Answer to Question 2

D
The drop factor is the number of drops (gtt) needed to make 1 mL of IV fluid. The larger the drop, the fewer drops needed to make 1 mL.

[lak]

Excellent

[aliotak]

TYSM