Eight hours after presentation to the emergency department with reports of substernal chest pain, a client's laboratory results demonstrate myoglobin levels of 55 ng/mL. What does the nurse do next?

Question

a. Prepare the client for an emergency coro-nary bypass graft surgery.
b. Administer nitroglycerin to prevent further myocardial cell death.
c. Assess the client to identify another po-tential cause of the chest pain.
d. Provide client education related to com-plications of myocardial infarctions.

Answer 1

C
Myoglobin is a heme protein found in skeletal and cardiac muscle. With myocardial injury, myoglobin levels rise within 3 to 6 hours. If myoglobin levels have not risen within that time, the client has not experienced a myocardial infarction. The nurse should assess the client to identify a potential cause for the chest pain, besides an MI.