Chf Essay

The prevalence of congestive heart failure is on the increase both in the United States and all over the world, and it is the leading cause of hospitalization in the elderly population. Congestive heart failure is a progressive disease generally seen in the elderly, which if not properly managed, can lead to repeated hospital admissions or death. Heart failure means that the heart muscle is weakened. A weakened heart muscle may not be strong enough to pump an adequate amount of blood out of its chambers. To compensate for its diminished pumping capacity, the heart may enlarge. Commonly, the heart's pumping inefficiency causes a buildup of blood in the

Providing patients diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure effective teaching can eliminate reoccurring hospitalizations. Patients are discharged with CHF and readmitted within 30 days. The information provided will examine the process of enhancing patient knowledge and provide additional resources essential for effective health care management. Research evidence provides data that proves patients who are diagnosed with CHF needs a variety of health care needs during admission and after discharge. The proposal will display an evaluation plan, implementation plan and a dissemination of the

A person's symptoms can provide important clues to the presence of heart failure. (Cadwallader p. 1143). Some of these include: JVD, SOB, frequent coughing when lying down, edema, acites, fatigue, syncope, vertigo, and sudden death. (Cadwallader p. 1142).

Prevention is always the key. However, not everyone will listen to their doctors. Some patients may not be able to afford their blood pressure medications, never realizing that further down the line they could end up with heart failure. This condition is chronic, meaning it has the ability to continue to get worse over time, if left untreated. Medications and surgeries can help you to live a better quality of life, but such treatment measures may not help if you have a severe case of heart failure. Heart failure is fatal in the worst cases (Heart Failure, 2014). Heart failure can suddenly get worse due to many factors. Things such as lack of blood flow to the heart muscle, eating foods that may be higher in salt, a sudden heart attack, an infection in the body or other illnesses, skipping medication or not taking it correctly, and an abnormal heart rhythm. Most the most part, heart failure is a chronic condition. This a persistent illness that will only get worse over time. Once people develop severe heart failure medications, other treatments, and surgery may no longer help at this stage (Heart Failure Overview,

Heart failure affects nearly 6 million Americans. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in people older than 65. Roughly 550,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure each year (Emory Healthcare, 2014). Heart failure is a pathologic state where the heart cannot pump enough blood to meet the demand of the body’s metabolic needs or when the ventricle’s ability to fill is impaired. It is not a disease, but rather a complex clinical syndrome. The symptoms of heart failure come from pulmonary vascular congestion and inadequate perfusion of the systemic circulation. Individuals experience orthopnea,

It because the heart has weak or damaged ventricular walls that are not able to push enough blood into the body (Congestive Heart Failure Symptoms). Or perhaps it is because the ventricular walls are stiff therefore, the heart does not fill with enough blood. If a person has a left sided heart failure the left ventricle doesn’t deliver enough oxygenated blood full of rich nutrients to the body which causes the person to feel tired and out of breath. The left ventricle also increases the blood pressure in the blood vessels between the lungs and the left ventricle. This increases pressure and forces fluid out of your blood and into your lung tissues, which makes it difficult to breathe. If someone has right-sided heart failure he is unable to contract with enough force to send the blood to the lungs in consequence blood builds up in the veins, throughout the tissues in the body which is called edema. Over time the heart failure on either side of the heart results in weakened and enlarged ventricles resulting in less blood pumping to the body. To make up for the decreased amount of blood the nervous system sends out stress hormones that increase the speed and force of the heartbeat. Unfortunately, the continued release of these hormones makes the heart failure worse because they damage the muscle cells in the ventricles (Moore). The common cause of heart failure is

The nursing diagnosis for this community would be “Knowledge deficit” related to lack of information regarding one’s illness, treatment therapy and/or self-care. The deficit of knowledge may also be related to lack of understanding or misinterpretation about the correlation of cardiac function, disease and deterioration. As a nurse who works on a cardiac unit, I have learned that a lot of senior patients have no idea what heart failure is, understand what causes or even know that they have been diagnosed as having the disease. Education about cardiac diseases and its overall health affects is very important for all age populations. However, from my experience the senior population are the ones that seem to be the most deficient in knowledge when it comes to cardiovascular

Heart Failure is a progressive heart disease when the muscle of the heart is weakened so that it cannot pump blood as it should; the blood backs up into the blood vessels around the lungs and the other parts of the body (NHS Choice, 2015). In heart failure, the heart is not able to maintain a normal range cardiac output to meet the metabolic needs of the body (Kemp and Conte, 2012). Heart failure is a major worldwide public health problem, it is the end stage of heart disease and it could lead to high mortality. At present, heart failure is usually associated with old age, given the dramatic increase in the population of older people (ACCF/AHA, 2013). In the USA, there are about 5.7 million adults who have heart failure, about half of the people die within 5 years of diagnosis, and it costs the nation an estimated $30.7 billion each year (ACCF/AHA, 2013).

Congestive heart failure is a lifelong disease and will never be cured; therefore, it is important that Jonathan understands how to manage this disease. It is the nurse’s job to educate the patient as much as possible and to provide as many resources for the patient to ensure he

Heart failure may convey that the heart isn’t working anymore, but what it really means is that the heart isn’t pumping as well as it should be (REF). Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition in which the heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood through to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen (REF). At first, the heart tries to make up for this by enlarging, developing more muscle mass, and pumping faster. As this happens, the blood vessels narrow to keep blood pressure up and the body diverts blood away from less important tissues and organs to maintain flow to the heart and brain (REF). Eventually, the body and heart cannot keep up and the patient begins to feel fatigue, breathing problems, weight gain with swelling in the feet, legs, ankles or stomach, and other symptoms that eventually leads to a hospital visit. The body’s coping mechanisms give us better understanding on why many are unaware of their condition until years after the heart declines (REF).

“According to the American Heart Association (AHA) affects nearly 5.7 million Americans and is responsible for more hospitalizations than all forms of cancer combined. It is the number 1 cause of hospitalization for Medicare patients. With improved survival of patients with acute myocardial infarction and with a population that continues to age, heart failure will continue to increase in prominence as a major health problem in the United States” (Dimitru, 2015,p. Epidemiology). I chose to report on this condition because my grandmother had lived with this condition undiagnosed for many years. I feel that early diagnosis and treatment will lead to better outcomes. With the increasing number of cases each year it is important for the family nurse practitioner to diagnose and treat this chronic condition.

Congestive heart failure is a chronic disease that requires daily monitoring and life style management. Affecting the elderly, and their family the adjustment is a challenge. Daily life skills include the monitoring of daily weights, intake and output, and a low sodium diet. The person with congestive heart failure is generally admitted to the hospital for medication adjustments when their symptoms increase. The patient is often times short of breath, with a decrease in energy and an increase in their weight. The patients are generally elderly 60-65 years of age or older, and when comparing African Americans to Caucasians the African Americans have a 1.5 greater chance of developing heart failure ("Heart Failure," 2017). The

After a period of time, the heart muscles of the left ventricle begin to weaken. The weakening of the left ventricle will lead to decreased empting of the heart (systolic heart failure) which results in decreased cardiac output again. Since the left ventricle does not empty completely, blood begins to back up into the left atrium and then to the pulmonary circulation thus resulting in pulmonary congestion and dyspnea (Story 2012, 104). If left untreated, the blood will back up and affect the right side of the heart causing biventricular heart failure (both right and left heart failure). In right sided heart failure, the right ventricle weakens and cannot empty completely. This incomplete emptying causes blood to back up into the systemic circulation causing systemic edema (Lewis et al. 2014, 771).

Symptoms of heart failure are divided into two parts which are left and right sided of the heart. Heart failure may happen due to the “pooling” of fluid in the lungs, abdominal area, legs or feet; it can also be caused by decreased blood flow to the body. The left-sided failure of the heart causes blood to back up or be congested to the lungs, causing respiratory symptoms such as: shortness of breath all the time especially during the night while sleeping, frequent dry cough and many more. Left side failure also gives fatigue which is due to insufficient supple of oxygenated blood. Whereas, right-sided failure is often caused by pulmonary heart disease, which usually caused by the difficulties of pulmonary circulation. This side of failure

Heart failure is a chronic disease that has been affecting individuals for centuries. According to American Heart Association 2017, heart failure occurs when heart muscles is weakened and cannot pump enough blood to meet the body’s demanding need for blood and oxygen. Heart failure can be hereditary. However if not hereditary, there are environmental factors that can contribute to heart failure. Heart failure can be prevented and control. In this paper, I will discuss the causes of heart failure. I will aso discuss how heart failure can be prevented. If heart failure is not prevented, I will also discuss how to live with heart failure.