EKG l Premature Ventricular contractions (PAC, PJC, PVC)

hey guys Mike Laris here and welcome to simplenursing.com today we're wrapping up premature contractions basically what happens when the heart sneezes now to be all fancy the PAC is a premature atrial contraction basically just an atrial sneezing pjc is a premature junctional contraction which is just a junctional sneeze and a PVC is the premature ventricular contraction and just like all the others you guessed it it's a ventricular squeeze these premature contractions are also called complexes and are contractions that occur early and before the next normal impulse so what's this going to look like on an EKG well using our five steps let's interpret this EKG so a Pac the rate can occur at any time the rhythm is regular but usually interrupted due to early p waves the p-wave is early guys that's the biggest part of this the p wve is early and often may be hidden in the t-wave now now the PR interval the early p-wave has shortened that normal PR interval but still has between .12 to20 seconds now the QRS wave that follows that early p wve is usually normal now a pjc are premature junctional contraction basically those tractions happening between the atriums and the ventricles the rate usually depends on the underlying Rhythm the rhythm is mostly irregular and the pway absent or inverted or even buried inside of that pjc now the PR interval there should be none or maybe even shorter ones and the QRS is usually normal now lastly the PVC all depends on the underlying rate now the rhythm is irregular when the PVC occurs the p wve and the PR interval are not even associated with the PVC and the qrs's are wide and looking bizarre all these premature contractions are happening way too early and basically just Contracting prematurely now what are the causes of premature contractions well the main causes are quite simple it's the three s's the stimulant the sepsis and the stress so stimulants like caffeine or cigarettes even alcohol I call the three wisen but even hyperthyroidism can cause an increase metabolism and also dioxin toxicity can play a factor in over contractility of the heart now sepsis or infection of the body like rheumatic fever can also cause premature contraction and lastly stress like anxiety from the normal daily emotional struggles we have to read all these chapters but also diseases that put added stress and inflammation on the heart like CAD the narrowing of the coronary arteries in the heart adds stress to the heart or CHF heart failure increases the blood pressure pressure adding pressure on the heart even myocarditis and rheumatic fever diseases both cause inflammation to the heart and lastly even COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disease makes it difficult for the body to get that oxygen which basically add stress to the heart okay now last last but not least the electrolyte imbalances like hypo calmia or low potassium can cause electrical problems like premature contractions now signs and symptoms for premature contractions guys we usually don't see any signs and symptoms with mild cases now you may have even experienced a premature contraction today or like even like right now and didn't even realize it but if by chance you have multiple premature contractions in a row then your patients might say subjective data like I feel my heart skipping a beat or I feel my heart pounding or even like I feel a quivering in the chest like a little baby fetus is kicking me in the chest there may be a pulse deficit and possibly hypotension which is just fancy words for low blood pressure so guys what are we going to do about it as nurses well some priority nursing interventions and treatments for premature contractions so first identify and eliminate the underlying causes so guys you have to Patient educate about the prevention of the three s's the three triggers really stress sepsis and stimulant like caffeine cigarettes and alcohol lastly medications we might discontinue or just lower the dose of digoxin so guys please write that down because digoxin is known as a inotropic drug it basically increases the contractility of the heart and it could be the reason that our heart is prematurely Contracting also we can correct the electrolyte imbalances and lastly we can relax the heart with drugs like procainamide Lane and amone if warranted now just FYI some nursing considerations B and C Drugs beta blockers and calcium channel blockers all given to slow the heart rate can suppress these premature contractions thanks for watching for our full video and new quiz Bank click right up here to access your free trial and please consider subscribing to our YouTube channel last but not least a big thanks to our team of experts helping us make these great videos all right guys see you next time

Channel: Simple Nursing

Views: 159,902

Keywords: PVC, PJC, PAC, Premature atrial contraction, atria, atrium, Premature junctional, premature ventricular, ventricle, ventricles, EKG, ECG, How to interpret heart rhythms on EKG strips, How to memorize PQRST EKG rhythm, Registered nurse RN, RN, Osmosis, Pharmacology, NCLEX, ATI exit, HESI exit, Kaplan, student nurse, nursing student, simplenursing, simple nursing, electrocardiogram, Dysrhythmias, Rhythems, Cardiac EKG, QRS, waves, electrical activity, dysrhythmias, arrhythmias

Id: k41eHIVIjYU

Length: 5min 37sec (337 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 21 2019