The nurse is assigned to watch the cardiac monitors in the constant care unit and notes four different patients displaying arrhythmias. Which arrhythmia is the nurse's highest immediate priority?
A) Sinus bradycardia at a rate of 54 beats/min
B) Atrial flutter
C) Sinus tachycardia at a rate of 108 beats/min
D) Ventricular fibrillation
D
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Ventricular fibrillation is seen as a bizarre, irregular, distorted wave. It is potentially fatal because it reflects a lack of any coordinated stimulation of the ventricles. The ventricles' inability to contract in a coordinated fashion results in no blood being pumped to the body or the brain. Thus, cardiac output is totally lost. Sinus bradycardia, sinus tachycardia, and atrial flutter may all require attention but are not as life threatening as ventricular fibrillation.
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