Nursing Case Study: Betsy

Running head: NURSING CASE STUDY: BETSY
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Nursing Case Study: Betsy
Student’s Name
University

NURSING CASE STUDY: BETSY
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Nursing Case Study: Betsy
Introduction
Acute coronary arteries are the major cause of common cardiac related challenges. This is based
on the narrowing of the arteries due to the presence of fatty acids which block the arteries and in
critical situations can lead to perfusion. The effect is on the heart since it has to work abnormally
to supply the body with the necessary blood flow and oxygen (Azad & Mielniczuk, 2018). The
signs and symptoms of this problem are commonly reported as angina or chest pain. However, as
seen in the case of Betsy the patient may not always feel chest pain but there are indicators like
shortness of breath, nausea, and fatigue among others.
Question 1: rationale for ECG
Despite the fact that Betsy is not feeling any chest pain, she is presenting challenging heart-
related symptoms that have prompted the practitioner to order for an ECG. This is because Betsy
is feeling short of breath, and nauseous which can be an early sign of a heart attack (Ogunlade, et
al., 2015). The role of ECG is to check the electoral activity of the heart through assessing the
rhythm of the heart by detecting signs of irregular heartbeat or any other complications that can
be associated with heart failure. The role of this test is to validate the shortness of breath that she
is feeling to detect any signs of an imminent heart attack.
Question 2:
2a. the pathophysiology of angina
Angina results from the shortness of breath that the patients feel due to reduced supply of oxygen
in the heart thus creating challenges of circulation. In most cases, it is caused by blocked arteries
due to the presence of fats, cholesterol, and lipoproteins that accumulate in the arteries to form
fatty acids which produce extracellular matrix forming atherosclerotic plaque that narrows the

NURSING CASE STUDY: BETSY
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luminal space (Mansour, Reda, Mena, Ghaleb, & Elkersh, 2016). This leads to any of the four
conditions of angina stable/unstable angina and STEMI/NSTEMI. Stable angina
pathophysiology is based on the lack of enough blood supply to the heart due to blockage arteries
from the accumulation of fats.
Cheung & Li (2012) argue that as the arteries block and reduce circulation, the patient feels
squeezing and uncomfortable pressure that extends to the shoulder, neck or jaw. The reason why
this is called stable angina is that the signs can be easily identified from intense physical activity
that the patient engages in. in most cases, the signs start slowly and progress with time. On the
hand, unstable angina is the opposite of stable angina because the signs are normally seen when
one is resting. However, the pathophysiology of its development is similar to stable angina since
it is a result of blocked arteries that reduce the blood flow thus creating discomfort.
According to Díez-Villanueva & Alfonso (2016) STEMI is caused by the buildup of fats that
block arteries reducing blood flow and leading to a heart attack. As the heart struggles to pump
more so that the body can receive enough blood supply, it becomes weakened and leads to other
complications. This means that the heart will be affected while the arteries may rupture due to
excessive pressure to supply blood. Therefore STEMI leads to major complications for the heart
that make it difficult for blood supply, this means that the heart has to pump blood more which in
turn damages its cells. In this case, the arteries may rapture due to excess pressure and pumping
which leads to extensive damage to the heart (Mirza, Taha, & Khdhirc, 2018). In NSTEMI the
complications are similar to STEMI since it is caused by blocking of arteries but the effects are
less since the obstructed coronary arteries are partially damaged leading to less damage to the
heart. In all the three conditions, one common thing in all the conditions is that they result from
blocked arteries which lead to different complications of the heart.