A nurse in the rehabilitation unit is caring for a 72-year-old patient who is in cardiac rehabilitation following a myocardial infarction. The nurse's plan of care calls for the patient to walk for 15 minutes three times a day
The patient asks why "walking is good for my heart." The nurse's best response is:
A) The arteries in your legs constrict when you walk and allow the blood to move faster and with more pressure on the tissue.
B) Walking decreases the heart's pumping ability, and increases your heart rate and blood pressure, and therefore your heart is under less stress.
C) Walking helps your heart adjust to your new arteries and provides a way to have fun.
D) When you walk, the muscles in your legs contract and pump the blood in your veins back towards your heart, which allows more blood to return to your heart.
Ans: D
Feedback: Veins, unlike arteries, are equipped with valves that allow blood to move against the force of gravity. The legs have one-way bicuspid valves that prevent blood from seeping backward as it moves forward by the muscles in our legs pressing on the veins as we walk and increasing venous return. Option A is incorrect; the arteries in your legs do constrict when you walk, which allows the blood to move faster and with more pressure on the tissue, but the greater concern is increasing the flow of venous blood to the heart. Option B is incorrect; walking increases, not decreases, the heart' pumping ability, which increases your heart rate and blood pressure and increases the hearts ability to manage stress. Option C is incorrect; walking does help the heart adjust to new arteries and provides a way to have fun, but the patient had a myocardial infarction—there are no "new arteries."
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