While caring for a patient with a Swan-Ganz, the nurse notices that the systemic vascular resistance is 1,800 dynes/sec/cm5, whereas the patient's cardiac output is 6.0 liters per minute
What would the nurse expect the patient's blood pressure to be? 1. increased
2. decreased
3. unchanged
4. initially decreased, and then increased
1
Rationale: Afterload is the pressure the heart pumps against to get volume out to the lungs or the body. If that pressure is increased, but volume, measured by cardiac output stays the same, it means that the heart is working harder to get volume out and the blood pressure will go up. The heart is working harder against an elevated systemic pressure. The blood pressure will go up, at least for the short term. Because the heart is working harder against the elevated systemic pressure, it makes sense that some change will take place. In reality, the blood pressure would probably increase initially in response to the increased workload. If treatment is not initiated, the heart will eventually tire, and a decrease in blood pressure could be expected.
Applying
Nursing Process: Assessment
Client Need: Physiological Integrity
LO: 13-2. Explain how cardiac output is measured in the clinical setting.
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