Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) Active Learning Template - Nursing Care

This assignment presents an active learning template focused on Coronary Artery Disease (CAD). It delves into the disorder's process, including alterations in health and diagnosis, specifically detailing how the coronary arteries harden due to plaque buildup, restricting blood flow. The template covers the pathophysiology, emphasizing cholesterol plaque deposits and their impact on arterial walls. It outlines health promotion strategies, particularly lifestyle changes, and explores risk factors like gender, age, and family history. Assessment considerations include laboratory tests such as echocardiograms and ECGs, alongside diagnostic procedures like chest X-rays and stress tests. The assignment highlights patient-centered care, including nursing interventions like monitoring access sites and providing clear medication information. Therapeutic procedures, such as pharmaceutical therapies and bypass surgery, are discussed, alongside patient education on exercise, nutrition, and medications. The assignment also touches upon interprofessional care, the collaborative efforts of healthcare professionals, and potential complications such as heart failure and stroke. The template also includes information on ischemic cardiomyopathy, its causes, symptoms, and diagnosis.

ACTIVE LEARNING TEMPLATES TherapeuTic procedure A11
System Disorder
STUDENT NAME _____________________________________
DISORDER/DISEASE PROCESS __________________________________________________________ REVIEW MODULE CHAPTER ___________
ACTIVE LEARNING TEMPLATE:
ASSESSMENT SAFETY
CONSIDERATIONS
PATIENT-CENTERED CARE
Alterations in
Health (Diagnosis) Pathophysiology Related
to Client Problem Health Promotion and
Disease Prevention
Risk Factors Expected Findings
Laboratory Tests Diagnostic Procedures
Complications
Therapeutic Procedures Interprofessional Care
Nursing Care Client EducationMedications
CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE
coronary heart disease is a disease whereby
the coronary artery hardens due to build up of
plague. due to the hardened arteries, blood
flow to the heart is restricted and does not
receive oxygenated blood.
comprehensive notes on the patient should be
kept so that nurses caring for the patient know
the patient's management plan, areas of
concern and their clinical status. the nurse
should monitor femoral or radial access sites
so as to recognize any complecations. the
nurse needs clear information on the patient's
medications, Iv fluids, any complications and
any procedure they had (Nursing Times, 2017).
the nurse first observes for any signs and
symptoms for coronary heart disease. then
they have to look at the patient's medical
history and the risk factors for the disease. the
nurse can then carry out a physical
examination and finally undertake a diagnosis.
there are different tests carried out to determine whether one is
suffering from coronary artery disease. these include;
Echocardiogram- this method uses ultrasound to take pictures of
the heart.
Electrocardiogram- this method determines the regulity. electrical
activity and rate of the heartbeat.
Chest X-ray- takes pictures of body organs in the chest using x ray
exercise stress test- this method is used to determine the
functionality of the heart during an activity (US Department of
Health and Human Services, 2019)
according to Mandal (2019) coronary artery
disease is due to cholesterol plaque deposits
on the arterial walls. these deposits thicken
the arterial wall and also narrow its lumen
hence high resistance to blood flow.
the nurse observes the patient's medical history, risk
factors, symptoms, carries out a physical
examination and then diagnostic method. for
echocardiagram, a part observed to move weakly
may indicate coronary artery disease. when a nurse
observes abnormalities in blood flow during ECG
test, then one could be having this disease.
the most common way of preventing coronary
artery disease is changing one's lifestyle. this
includes health eating, maintaining a healthy
weight, managing stress, quite smoking and
physical activity.
male gender- males are at a higher risk of this disease that women
advanced age- people above the age of 65 are more likely to have
coronary artery disease.
family history- when one of the parents has a history of heart
disease, then the children are at a risk of contracting the disease
especially when it was diagnosed before the age of 50.
race- African American, American Indians and native Hawaiians
are at a higher risk of severe blood pressure (Watson and Zibadi,
2017)
since clinical risks might
change quickly,
reviewing them after
every supervised
exercise session is
recommended
whenever a nurse is in
any form of doubt, they
should seek for advice.
some medications such
as nitrates and beta
blockers improve the
patient's functional
capacity, and increase
in the dose decreases
exercise tolerance. the
patient may show
symptoms of fatique,
dizziness and increased
dyspnoea until they
adapt to the
medications.
the collaborative cardiac care service
works in collaboration with cardiologists,
physicians and other health care
professionals so as to improve the
patient's outcomes. these health
professionals work together to monitor and
manage this disease. they also educate
and give advice and recommendations for
non-pharmaceutical therapy.
patient education on coronary artery disease
could be at home, in classroom, tailored,
generic, individual or group base. the patients
are educated on exercise, nutrition, risk
factors and medications. the education could
be delivered by peers or trained
professionals. the education aims at
improving health outcomes and reducing
cases of complications(Anderson et al. 2017).
drugs used to treat
coronary heart disease
include:
Asprine, which prevents
blood from clotting
cholesterol modifying
medication- these drugs
include niacin, statins
and fibrates. they reduce
the cholesterol deposits
on the coronary artery.
beta blockers- they slow
down the heart rate,
reduce blood pressure
hence the heart
demands for oxygen
reduce.
nitroglycerin- these
drugs dilate the coronary
artery hence the heart
demands for oxygen are
reduced.
the most common therapeutic procedures for
coronary artery disease include pharmaceutical
therapy and bypass surgery. pharmaceutical
procedure are more helpful at the early stages of
the infection. bypass surgery is a procedure
whereby the surgeon creates blood to bypass
the blockage in the artery. it involves two
procedures, beating heart surgery and arrested
heart surgery (Schwartz, 2009).
some of the
complications of
coronary artery
disease include
heart failure, heart
attack, stroke,
pulmonary
embolism, cardiac
arrest, peripheral
artery
disease,atrial
fibrillation, angina
and even sudden
death (Institute for
Quality and
Efficiency in Health
Care, 2013)