This article discusses heart failure, its symptoms, risk factors, pathophysiology, and nursing interventions for its management. It also highlights the importance of cardiac rehabilitation and medication for the treatment of heart failure.
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Running head: HEART FAILURE AND ITS MANAGEMENT HEART FAILURE AND ITS MANAGEMENT Name of the student: Name of the university: Author note:
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1 HEART FAILURE AND ITS MANAGEMENT Introduction: Heart failure can be described as the situation where the heart fails to keep up with the workload. As a result, the body fails to get the oxygen that it requires to perform different functions of the body. Heart failure can therefore be described as the serious condition and researchers are therefore of the opinion that there is no proper care that can reverse the conditions (Morton et al., 2017).Cardiovascular disorders have become one of the significant forms of diseases burden in the nation of New Zealand accounting for about $ 501 million that had made the National Health Policy to flag this disorder as a priority disease area for 2013 to 2014. The prevalence of the disease like that is Ischemic Heart diseases was found to be 5.5% in the nation with adults aged over 15 years in 2011 to 201 that accounts for about 193000 individuals with more men than women. Moreover about 30% of the adults aged over 75 were diagnosed with the disorder and seen to live poor quality lives..However, many patients with heart failure can thereby lead a full as well as an enjoyable life when they are able to manage the conditions effectively. They can manage them with proper heart failure medications and proper healthy lifestyle changes. With the proper support of family as well as friends, it is possible for the patients to live longer days. Therefore, nursing professionals of the healthcare centers have the duty to have good amount of knowledge about heart failure and develop evidence-based knowledge so that they can provide high quality care to the patient (Feltner et al., 2014). With effective patient education and proper interventions, the nation of New Zealand can effectively handle the increasing prevalence of heart disorders successfully. This assignment is therefore based on the explanation of the disorder, signs and symptoms, risk factors, pathophysiology and effectivediagnosis.Itwillalsodiscussaboutthenursinginterventionsthathealthcare professionals should take in order to care for their patients and gift them healthy lives.
2 HEART FAILURE AND ITS MANAGEMENT Discussion and pathophysiology of heart failures: Heart failure can be described as the chronic as well as progressive condition in which the muscles of the heart becomes unable to pump enough blood that would meet up the needs of oxygen of the different parts of the body. The failure of the heart to keep up with the workload mainly results in such a situation (Fihn et al., 2014).Researchers are of the opinion that heart failure usually develops after other conditions had already weakened the heart. In heart failure, the main pumping chambers of the heart may become too stiff and fail to fill properly in between the beats. In some of the other cases of heart failure, it is seen that heart muscles may become damaged and weakened and therefore the ventricles are seen to reach to a point where the heart cannot pump blood efficiently throughout the body.However, in the initial phase of the disorder, it is seen that the heart tries its best to make up for the situation by undertaking a number of actions. The first one is called enlarging. The heart is seen to stretch so that it can contract more strongly and thereby keep up with the demand of pumping more blood. In course of time, it is seen that the heart gradually becomes enlarged. The second way that the heart adopts is the development of more muscle mass (Black et al., 2014). Researchers are of the opinion that increase in the muscle mass occurs mainly because the contracting cells of the heart gradually becomes larger. Therefore, initially, the heart is seen to pump more strongly. The third way by which the heart compensates is by pumping in a faster motion and this helps to increase the output of the heart. The body is also seen to compensate in many other ways. The blood vessels are seen to gradually get narrow in order to keep up with the blood pressure. The body mainly does this so that it can make up for the loss of power of the heart. Researchers have also found that the boy responds to this situation by diverting the blood away from the less important organs and tissues and more towards the heart as well as the brain (Park, 2014). All these actions
3 HEART FAILURE AND ITS MANAGEMENT taken by the body of the patient in the initial sessions are helpful in temporarily masking the problems of the heart failure but they are not enough to solve the problems of the heart failure entirely. The conditions of the heart failures are seen to worsen until the substitute procedures no longer work.In course of time, the heart and the body fail to keep up with the condition and symptoms of heart failures are seen to occur. The patient seems to suffer from fatigue, breathing problems as well as other symptoms that compel the patient to visit healthcare centers for recovery. A number of occurrences within the heart may contribute to the situations where the patients may suffer from heart failure. Researchers are mainly of the opinion that coronary artery diseases and heart attack may contribute to such a condition of the heart. This mainly results in building up of the fatty deposits called plaques in the arteries. This is seen to reduce flow of blood and can thereby lead to heart attack. High blood pressure is also seen to be another contributor to that of heart failure (Ong et al., 2016). When the pressure of the blood is quite high, the heart needs to work harder that it should under normal conditions. This is mainly for circulating the blood throughout the body. In course of time, the extra insertion can result in making the heart muscle either too stiff or too weak in order to pump the blood effectively. Faulty heart valve can also result in contributing to heart failures. The normal function of the valves is to keep the blood flowing in the proper direction throughout the different chambers of the heart and thereby prevents their back flow. Researchers are of the opinion that a damaged valve mainly due to the result of the heart defect, coronary artery as well as due to a heart infection may result in forcing the heart to work harder. This can result in weakening of the heart over time (Clark et al., 2015). Another contributor to the disorder is the damaging of the heart muscles, which is also called the cardiomyopathy. Damaging of the heart muscles can have many
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4 HEART FAILURE AND ITS MANAGEMENT of the causes that include several disorders. Alcohol abuse, infections, toxic habits of th drugs like that of cocaine and as well as chemotherapy treatments can cause damage to the muscles of the heart. Researchers also state that genetic factors may also lad to the occurrence of the disease. Myocarditis is also another form of inflammation of the heart muscles that are mainly seen to be cause by a virus and can thereby left-to-left-sided heart failures. Heart arrhythmias are other important contributors. Abnormal heart rhythms may also result in making the heartbeat too fast and these results in creating of extra pressure for the heart. Again slow heart beat also results in the occurrence of the disorders (Bekelman et al., 2015). Risks for heart failures: A number of risk factors increase the chances of occurrence of heart failure situations in lives of different individuals. It is extremely important for the healthcare professionals to identify the different risk factors that make people vulnerable to heart failures so that they can take measures before hand and also educate the effectively to save their lives from any form of threats. Having any sort of heart problems before and possessing raised blood pressures can act as risk factors for the development of conditions of heart failures. Increased cholesterol levels, smoking disorder and diabetes also expose individuals to the risks of facing heart failures in their lives (Mahramus et al., 2014). Lack of physical activities and advancement of old age also make human beings more vulnerable to the development of the disorders. Gender is also seen to be one of the most important factors that decide advancement of heart disorders in the individuals. Men are seen to be at a higher risk for heart failures than the females and therefore the male patients are more vulnerable to life threatening situations due to heart failures (Stamp et al., 2014). Moreover, family history of heart disorders also makes individuals more prone to undergo such threatening situations in their lives. Therefore, the nursing professionals should first try to identify the risk
5 HEART FAILURE AND ITS MANAGEMENT factors and thereby educate patients in ways by which they can help the patients to lead healthy lives without any heart ailments (Reigel et al., 2016). Signs and symptoms of the heart failures: Healthcare professionals are expected to develop high amount of knowledge about the signs and symptoms of heart failures so that when patients arrive to the healthcare centers, their ailments are quickly diagnosed and treatment starts earlier. This helps to reduce the chances of threatening issues that might be faced by the patients. The patients may suffer from shortness of breath when they exert themselves or when they are seen to lie down. This is called dyspnoea. Fatigue and weakness are also some other symptoms which are also found in patients with the disorders. Swelling or edema in the legs, ankles as well as feet is also observed in the patients (Ross et al., 2015) Rapid as well as irregular heartbeat and reduced ability of the individuals to exercise also exhibits the chances of the individuals to have developed heart ailments. Many researchers are of the opinion that persistent cough as well as wheezing with white or pink blood tinged phlegm is also the other symptoms that help in development of the disorders. Moreover, such patients who have increased risk of heart failures are also seen to develop an increased need for urination at night (Kitsiou et al., 2015). Swelling of the abdomen also called ascites as well as very rapid weight gain from fluid retention, lack of appetite and nausea are also some of the symptoms that might indicate the nursing professionals that the patients have increased risk for heart failures. Difficulty on the action of concentrating as well as decreased alertness may also show in occurrences of the disorders. Sudden severe shortness of breath as well as coughing up
6 HEART FAILURE AND ITS MANAGEMENT pink foamy mucus as well as chest pain in case of heart attacks are also signs which show that the patient’s life is in threatening positions. Researchers are of the opinion that when patients are having chest pain, fainting as well as severe weakness should immediately consult doctors. Rapid, irregular heartbeat along with shortness of breath, chest pain or fainting, coughing with pink, foamy mucus and others need immediate attention from the healthcare professionals (Yu et al., 2015). Nursing interventions: Pharmacological interventions are one of the most important forms of interventions that the nursing professionals need to develop to save the patients who have suffered heart failures. The medications should be taken regularly and if the medications are seen to create any side effects, the patients should immediately inform the healthcare professionals. Diuretics or water pills are one of the main medications that allow the kidneys in removing excess of the fluids and salt from the body. This is mainly done by increasing the amount of urine that is produced. AngiotensinconvertingenzymesortheACEinhibitorscanalsobeused.Thistypeof medications mainly helps in relaxation of the blood vessels and makes it easier for the heart to pump blood to different tissues of the body (Vedel & Khanassouv, 2015). It would also help the patients to perform more without the patients becoming breathless or even tired. Angiotensin-II receptor antagonists are some of the medications that can be used by individuals who face difficultyintoleratingthedifferentACEinhibitors.Thenursingprofessionalscanalso recommend digoxin to the patients as the medication helps the patients by making the heartbeat strongly as well as regularly. It mainly belongs to the class of medications called the cardiac glycosides and is mainly seen to work by affecting the certain minerals inside the heart cells. This mainly helps in reducing the strain on the heart muscles and thereby helps in the
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7 HEART FAILURE AND ITS MANAGEMENT maintenance of the normal steady and strong heartbeat (Cajitta, gleason & han, 2016). Beta- blockers are some of the medications that the professionals can provide to the patients for developing the pumping action of the heart. Spironolactone is also another medication that are also called aldosterone antagonist. This has a diuretic effect and may help in cases of severe heart failure. Other medications that can be also used are the calcium channel blockers. These medications are sometimes used in the slowing down of the heart rate if it cannot be controlled with the help of the beta-blockers. Warfarin is also seen to help in stopping the clots of blood from forming. Non-pharmacological interventions: Cardiac rehabilitation is one of the interventions that nursing professionals should advise patients who have already been affected by heart failures. This is mainly a medically supervised program that are seen to help heart patients to recover from their ailments and thereby improve overall, physical, mental as well as social functions. The main goal of this form of intervention is the stabilization, slowing as well as reversal of the progression of the heart failure symptoms, signs and conditions. This form of intervention can help in the reduction of the chances of the risk of heart diseases as well as another cardiac event or death (Piette et al., 2015). The nursing professionals and the experts taking part in the cardiac rehabilitation programs usually provide a number of interventions. They conduct medical evaluation for figuring out the needs as well as limitations and then develop a physical activity program that would be tailored in ways by which the needs of the patients can be met. The nursing professionals should counsel and educate the patients to help them understand the different conditions of the patients and thereby help them to manage them with proper interventions. The nursing professionals also support and train the patients with the disorder to help them return to work on their normal activities. Moreover
8 HEART FAILURE AND ITS MANAGEMENT counseling on the modifying risk factors with the effective suggestions through diet and nutrition as well as with the proper utilization of the prescribed medications help the patients to come out of vulnerabilities and live a safe and steady life. Surgery is also considered to be one of another interventionthatthehealthcareprofessionalsmaysuggest(Vedel&Khanassouv,2015). Coronary bypass surgery is mainly helpful for those patients who have coronary arterial disorders s a cause of the heart failures. Other treatments such as caring after pacemakers as well as implantable cardioverter defibrillators or ICDS are also helpful in effective management of the heart failures in such people. Although the professionals do not take part in surgery but they contribute to post operative and preoperative management of the patients (Ross et al., 2015). Another very important aspect is providing patient education to the patients either for preventing patents who have risks of heart disorders or for caring for patients who have already gone through conditions of heart failure to prevent them from further such threats and accidents. Some of the important areas that the nursing professionals should educate the patients to maintain healthy lives and to reduce the chances of heart disorders are to avoid salt. Salt can result in retaining of the fluids and this can lead to breathlessness and swollen ankles. Another important aspect is healthy eating by the patients (Yu et al., 2015). When patients would chose healthier foods, smaller portions, wholegrain, healthy fats and less processed foods, the chance of heat failures will reduce. Limiting fluids, stopping excessive smoking and limiting alcohols will prevent further damaging of the heart and will reduce the chances of heart attacks. Limiting stress, proper sleep in the night, remaining active, losing weight and proper vaccination are some of the points that the nurse should provide in the education plan for the patients (Cajitta, Gleason & Han, 2016).
9 HEART FAILURE AND ITS MANAGEMENT While working as a nursing professional in the rehabilitation ward i the healthcare center, I have realized that effective team working is very much important in the multidisciplinary teams. Different types of experts need to attend the patients to help the patients meet their needs and requirements. Most of the time a single patient is seen to be attended by more than one expert helping them with their health issues after heart failures. The nursing professionals need to communicate with each of them effectively and documents the conditions of the progression of the health of the patient. This information is very important for effective communication among the members, to reduce any medication errors or other forms of errors that may affect the patient health. I have realized that pharmacological interventions are very important and thereby learning proper medication administration to the patients with the 5R of medication is important. Moreover, non-pharmacological interventions are also important to develop the quality of life of the patients. Most of the patients remain very scared and helping them to develop health literacy and be confident about their lifestyle interventions are very important. Hence, I believe that educating them properly is also an important responsibility of the nurse. From the above discussion, it becomes quite clear that heart failures result in different signs and symptoms that cause very poor quality life of the patients. They tend to be highly vulnerable to life threats and therefore they need proper treatments from professionals. Heart failures mainly affect the pumping of the heart of individuals affecting the distribution of oxygen to different part of the organs that create life risks. Different types of medications are available that the professionals can provide to the patients. They can also arrange for cardiac rehabilitation, surgery if needed and proper patient education. Such interventions would help in helping the patients overcome the risks and live high quality lives.
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