Because medicine is adopting the most advanced technologies and is an ever-changing science they continue education is very important for nurses. As changes in treatments and therapies are adopted and new medical information is gained through research and clinical studies, nurses need to continue update their medical knowledge.
EKG testing is an area important for the generalist nurse as well as for those employed in cardiology departments. For this reason all nurses would need to regularly upgrade their knowledge on the ECG testing.
By taking the course on EKG testing here at at UnderstandingEKG.com, each nurse will be able at the end of the program to:
· Describe the normal cardiac physiology and anatomy.
· Name and discuss the heart’s important anatomical structures that relate to EKG.
· Perform satisfactorily on an objective EKG examination.
· Identify normal EKG waveform, measure and analyze each segment and wave.
· Recognize the most dangerous arrhythmias that could be dangerous to a person.
· Identify cardiac medication and their uses.
· Know the two most frequently used treatments for heart arrhythmias.
· Interpret correctly the basic arrhythmias by using a step-by step
Among the benefits for taking the EKG course at UnderstandingEKG.com are:
· Increased trust from colleagues and physicians in monitoring the patients.
· Increased levels of competence in caring for your patient.
By learning the mat
erial presented in the EKG course at UnderstandingEKG.com nurses will master the various ways of understanding and reading an EKG strip. Nurses can also get 11 contact hours with this online clinical telemetry course.
The course has the purpose to provide licensed nurses information on how to provide care for patients in a clinical telemetry setting and how to interpret EKG readings. The training program was designed for all licensed nurses, with a focus on specific telemetry areas such as basic telemetry hospital units, surgery, ICU, endoscopy, special procedures, and interventional radiology.
Here are some highlights of the material presented in the EKG course:
Each wave on the EKG is related to electrical impulses. When these electrical impulses stimulate the heart muscles, blood is ejected from a chamber of the heart.
The basic facts about heart function are the following:
1. The inside and outside of the heart cell membrane are bathed in fluid.
2. This fluid is made up of an electrolyte solution that is carrying positive and negative ions.
3. Between ions of opposite polarity will flow an electrical current.
4. The extracellular fluid is mostly positive when cells are at rest. That means that no electrical current will flow.
5. Current will flow when the cell membrane is stimulated.
6. At all times positive ions of K go in and out freely.
7. The positive ions of K are limited to the outside of the cell.
8. The negative chargers inside the cell and diffusion gradient change attract positive ions of NA to enter cell’s interior.
The EKG course will also refresh the information about the electrical conduction system of the heart. This system includes the intermodal atrial conduction tracts, sinoatrial node, atrioventicular node, interatrial conduction tract, bundle of HIS, Purkinje network, and the right and left bundle branches. The bundle of HIS and the AV node from the heart’s AV junction. The Purkinje network, the right and left bundle branches, and the bundle of HIS are also called the HIS-Purkinje ventricles system. The sole function of the heart’s electrical conduction system is to transmit electrical impulses from the SA node to the ventricles and atria.
The course will also refresh the nurses’ knowledge about the electrical basis of the EKG. The electrocardiogram uses electrodes attached to the skin in order to provide a graphic record of the magnitude and direction of the heart’s electrical activity generated by the depolarization and re-polarization of the ventricles and atria. This graphic record can be used for evaluating if the heard presents a normal EKG or for interpretation of arrhythmias.
The EKG paper shows time intervals as well as the measurements of each block on the paper. By counting blocks up and down on the EKG paper it is possible to make a fairly accurate measurement of a patient’s heart rate. Amplitude of the electrical activity of the heart as well as time sequences is recorded on the EKG paper. Other measurements on the EKG paper used in diagnosis of heart conditions are the P Wave, the QRS Complex, the T Wave, the U Wave, and the EKG Leads. All these aspects are detailed discussed in our course.