A 65-year-old male develops blockage in the pulmonary artery. As a result of the blockage, blood would first back up into the:

A nurse is teaching about the heart. Which information should the nurse include? The chamber of the heart that generates the highest pressure is the:

A nurse recalls the chamber that receives blood from the systemic circulation is the:

Which statement indicates the nurse understands blood flow? Oxygenated blood flows through the:

A 65-year-old male is transported to the ER for chest pain. An electrocardiogram reveals a prolonged QRS interval. What is the nurse monitoring when the nurse observes the QRS complex on the electrocardiogram? The QRS complex reflects:

While viewing the electrocardiogram, the nurse recalls the _____ conducts action potentials down the atrioventricular septum.

A 50-year-old female received trauma to the chest that caused severe impairment of the primary pacemaker cells of the heart. Which of the following areas received the greatest damage?

Which information by the nurse indicates a good understanding of depolarization? Depolarization of a cardiac muscle cell occurs as the result of:

A nurse is discussing the pressure generated at the end of diastole. Which term is the nurse describing?

While planning care for a heart patient, which principle should the nurse recall? Right ventricular afterload is affected by:

A nurse observes a cardiologist multiplying the heart rate by stroke volume. What is the cardiologist measuring?

Increases in which of the following would cause the nurse to assess for decreased blood flow? (Select all that apply.)

A 60-year-old male presents to his primary care provider reporting chest pain. He is diagnosed with atherosclerosis. This disease is caused by:

Most cases of combined systolic and diastolic hypertension have no known cause and are documented on the chart as _____ hypertension.

When a nurse checks the patient for orthostatic hypotension, what did the nurse have the patient do?

A 50-year-old male is diagnosed with orthostatic hypotension. Which of the following symptoms would he most likely experience?

A 75-year-old obese female presents to her primary care provider reporting edema in the lower extremities. Physical exam reveals that she has varicose veins. Upon performing the history, which of the following is a possible cause for the varicose veins?

A 56-year-old male is diagnosed with coronary artery disease. Which of the following modifiable risk factors would the nurse suggest the patient change?

When a patient asks the nurse what is the most common cause of myocardial ischemia, which statement is the correct response? The most common cause of myocardial ischemia is:

A 51-year-old male presents with recurrent chest pain on exertion. He is diagnosed with angina pectoris. When he asks what causes the pain, how should the nurse respond? The pain occurs when:

A 51-year-old male is at the health clinic for an annual physical exam. After walking from the car to the clinic, he developed substernal pain. He also reported discomfort in his left shoulder and his jaw, lasting 2 to 3 minutes and then subsiding with rest. He indicates that this has occurred frequently over the past few months with similar exertion. The nurse suspects he is most likely experiencing:

When a staff member asks what the patent opening between the aorta and pulmonary artery in a fetus is called, how should the nurse reply? It is the:

A 3-year-old male is diagnosed with Kawasaki disease. Which of the following does the nurse suspect is the most likely cause?

During ventricular systole, closure of the atrioventricular (AV) valves coincides with:

Preload represents the volume work of the heart and is largely determined by:

A large increase in heart rate can cause:

A male patient with a history of angina has presented to the emergency department with uncharacteristic chest pain and his subsequent ECG reveals T-wave elevation. This finding suggests an abnormality with which of the following aspects of the cardiac cycle?

A patient with a diagnosis of secondary hypertension has begun to experience signs and symptoms that are ultimately suggestive of decreased cardiac output. Which of the following factors that determine cardiac output is hypertension likely to affect most directly?

A patient who lives with a diagnosis of angina pectoris has taken a sublingual dose of nitroglycerin to treat the chest pain he experienced while mowing his lawn. This drug has resulted in a release of nitric oxide, which will have what effect?

The most important complication of atherosclerosis is _________, which may cause occlusion of small heart vessels.

A serum marker for systemic inflammation, _______, is now considered a major risk factor marker for atherosclerosis, and vascular disease.

A patient’s primary care provider has added 20 mg of Lasix (furosemide) to his medication regimen to treat his primary hypertension. How does this diuretic achieve its therapeutic effect?

A patient is receiving homecare for the treatment of a wound on the inside of her lower leg which is 3 cm in diameter with a yellow wound bed and clear exudate. Assessment of the patient’s legs reveals edema and a darkened pigmentation over the ankles and shins of both legs. What is this patient’s most likely diagnosis?

A postsurgical patient’s complaints of calf pain combined with the emergence of swelling and redness in the area have culminated in a diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis. What treatment options will be of greatest benefit to this patient?

When stroke volume decreases, which of the following could maintain cardiac output?

Which of the following drugs decrease sodium and fluid retention in the body?

A drug taken in small doses on a continuing basis to reduce platelet adhesion is:

A partial obstruction in a coronary artery will likely cause:

Cigarette smoking is a risk factor in coronary artery disease because smoking:

The term arteriosclerosis specifically refers to:

A modifiable factor that increases the risk for atherosclerosis is:

The basic pathophysiology of myocardial infarction is best described as:

Significant signs of right-sided congestive heart failure include:

Which of the following drugs improves cardiac efficiency by slowing the heart rate and increasing the force of cardiac contractions?

The basic pathophysiological change associated with essential hypertension is:

Uncontrolled hypertension is most likely to cause ischemia and loss of function in the:

The term intermittent claudication refers to:

An echocardiogram is used to demonstrate any abnormal:

Which of the following is NOT true of the drug nitroglycerin?

When reviewing the 12-lead electrocardiograph (ECG) for a healthy 79-year-old patient who is having an annual physical examination, what will be of most concern to the nurse?

To determine the effects of therapy for a patient who is being treated for heart failure, which laboratory result will the nurse plan to review?

The standard policy on the cardiac unit states, “Notify the health care provider for mean arterial pressure (MAP) less than 70 mm Hg.” The nurse will need to call the health care provider about the

Which action should the nurse take when administering the initial dose of oral labetalol (Normodyne) to a patient with hypertension?

The nurse is reviewing the laboratory test results for a patient who has recently been diagnosed with hypertension. Which result is most important to communicate to the health care provider?

Heparin is ordered for a patient with a non–ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI). What is the purpose of the heparin?

During the administration of the thrombolytic agent to a patient with an acute myocardial infarction (AMI), the nurse should stop the drug infusion if the patient experiences

A patient is recovering from a myocardial infarction (MI) and develops chest pain on day 3 that increases when taking a deep breath and is relieved by leaning forward. Which action should the nurse take next?

The nurse obtains the following data when assessing a patient who experienced an ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) 2 days previously. Which information is most important to report to the health care provider?

While assessing a 68-year-old with ascites, the nurse also notes jugular venous distention (JVD) with the head of the patient’s bed elevated 45 degrees. The nurse knows this finding indicates

Which diagnostic test will be most useful to the nurse in determining whether a patient admitted with acute shortness of breath has heart failure?

A patient has recently started on digoxin (Lanoxin) in addition to furosemide (Lasix) and captopril (Capoten) for the management of heart failure. Which assessment finding by the home health nurse is a priority to communicate to the health care provider?

To determine whether there is a delay in impulse conduction through the atria, the nurse will measure the duration of the patient’s

A patient with dilated cardiomyopathy has new onset atrial fibrillation that has been unresponsive to drug therapy for several days. The priority teaching needed for this patient would include information about

Which laboratory result for a patient with multifocal premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) is most important for the nurse to communicate to the health care provider?

A patient’s cardiac monitor shows a pattern of undulations of varying contours and amplitude with no measurable ECG pattern. The patient is unconscious and pulseless. Which action should the nurse take first?

The nurse obtains a health history from a 65-year-old patient with a prosthetic mitral valve who has symptoms of infective endocarditis (IE). Which question by the nurse is most appropriate?

The nurse identifies the nursing diagnosis of decreased cardiac output related to valvular insufficiency for the patient with infective endocarditis (IE) based on which assessment finding(s)?

The nurse suspects cardiac tamponade in a patient who has acute pericarditis. To assess for the presence of pulsus paradoxus, the nurse should

When caring for a patient with infective endocarditis of the tricuspid valve, the nurse should monitor the patient for the development of