A nurse in the rehabilitation unit is caring for an older adult patient who is in cardiac rehabilitation following an MI. The nurse's plan of care calls for the patient to walk for 10 minutes 3 times a day
The patient questions the relationship between walking and heart function. How should the nurse best reply?
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 increases your heart rate and blood pressure. Therefore your heart is under less stress."
C) "Walking helps your heart adjust to your new arteries and helps build your self-esteem."
D) "When you walk, the muscles in your legs contract and pump the blood in your veins back toward 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. Leg arteries do constrict when walking, 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. Walking increases, not decreases, the heart' pumping ability, which increases heart rate and blood pressure and the hearts ability to manage stress. Walking does help the heart adjust to new arteries and may enhance self-esteem, but the patient had an MI—there are no "new arteries."
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