Nursing Care Plan for Heart Arrhythmia

Heart Arrhythmia is a group of cardiac disorders in which the regular beating of the heart gets disturbed. Your normal heart rate is 60 to 100 beats when you are in you resting state. If your heart rate is slower than normal, or bradycardia, or faster than normal, or tachycardia, it is considered as an arrhythmia. If arrhythmia occurs with normal heart rate or with rather slow heart rates of around 60 heart beats in a minute, then the condition is called bradarrhythmia. On the other hand, if the heart rate exceeds 100 heart beats a minute, the arrhythmia is referred to as tachyarrhythmias.

There are four main types of arrhythmia:

1. Premature (Extra) Beats
The majority of these are harmless and symptom free. Their technical name is premature atrial contractions, or PACs.These are the most common type and feel like skipped beats or a "fluttering" in the chest. These beats occur in the atria, the smallest chambers of the heart.

2. Ventricular Arrhythmias
These arrhythmias start in the ventricles, the lower chambers of the heart that pump blood around the body. Because the ventricles play such an important part in your circulation, arrhythmias occurring there can be extremely dangerous.

3. Bradyarrythmias
This type of arrhythmia causes the heart rate to dip below normal (60 beats per minute for an average adult). This causes blood circulation to slow to the brain, thus possibly causing unconsciousness. They are often connected to other types of heart problems, like heart attack or a reaction to medication.

4. Supraventricular Arrhythmias
These fast heart rates start in the atria or AV (atrioventricular) node, a barrier of cells separating the atria and ventricles in the heart.

In the vast majority of cases, the arrhythmia's effects are momentary and come without few or any symptoms. However, there are cases when the symptoms can be serious and require immediate medical attention.

Arrhythmia symptoms :

• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Slowed heartbeat
• Anxiety
• Racing heartbeat
• Near fainting
• Fainting
• Weakness
• Dizziness
• Fluttering feeling in your chest
• Feeling of long pauses between heartbeats
• Lightheadedness

Nursing Care Plan for Heart Arrhythmia

Nursing Diagnosis and Interventions for Heart Arrhythmia

Nursing Diagnosis 1.
Risk for Decreased cardiac output related to electrical conduction disturbances, decreased myocardial contractility.

Nursing Interventions :

1. Avoid causing intense emotional situations
2. Avoid too hot cold patient
3. Prevents decision making when patients are under severe stress
4. Refrain from giving oral stimulants
5. Refrain from entering anal lubricant
6. Refrain from taking rectal temperature
7. Refrain from doing a rectal or vaginal examination
8. Limit environmental stimuli
9. Delays shower if appropriate
10. Restrict smoking
11. Encourage competitive
12. Instruct the patient to progressive exercise
13. Instruct the patient or family on the symptoms of heart compromise shows need for rest
14. Patient identity method of handling stress
15. Perform relaxation therapy if appropriate

Nursing Diagnosis 2.
Activity intolerance related to acute pain, fatigue / exhaustion.

Nursing Interventions:

1. Monitor patients for self-care ability,
2. Monitor patient's need for adaptive devices for personal hygiene, dressing, toileting, and eating
3. Provide the desired personal article
4. Provide assistance until the patient is fully able to assume self-care
5. Assist patients in receiving the dependency needs
6. Use a consistent repetition of routine health care as a way of setting them
7. Encourage independence, but the intervention when the patient can not perform
8. Teach parents or family to encourage self-reliance, to increase only when the patient is unable to perform
9. Establish a routine for self-care activities
10. Consider patient age when promoting self-care activities