As a nurse you want to be familiar with different types of heart rhythms, especially ones that most commonly affect patients like atrial flutter. Before reviewing these lecture notes, don’t forget to watch the lecture on atrial flutter. A-flutter is a rhythm that is similar to atrial fibrillation in that the atria are not firing […]

As a nurse you want to be familiar with different types of heart rhythms, especially ones that most commonly affect patients like atrial fibrillation. Before reviewing this lecture notes, don’t forget to watch the lecture on atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation, also known as a-fib, is one of the most common rhythms seen in a hospitalized […]

As a nurse you want to be familiar with different types of heart rhythms, especially life-threatening rhythms like ventricular fibrillation (v-fib). Before reviewing these notes, don’t forget to check out the lecture on ventricular fibrillation (v-fib). Ventricular fibrillation (v-fib) is a deadly rhythm that leads to death if not reversed and treated within minutes. This […]

As a nurse you want to be familiar with different types of heart rhythms, especially life-threatening rhythms like Pulseless Electrical Activity (PEA). Before reviewing these notes, don’t forget to check out the lecture on Pulseless Electrical Activity (PEA). Pulseless Electrical Activity (PEA) How to identify it? This rhythm looks like an organized rhythm, but the […]

As a nurse you want to be familiar with different types of heart rhythms, especially life-threatening rhythms like asystole. Before reviewing these notes, don’t forget to check out the lecture on asystole. The “a” in asystole means without, and “systole” means contraction. So, when you put those two words together, you get “without contraction.” And […]

As a nurse you want to be familiar with different types of heart rhythms, especially life-threatening rhythms like ventricular tachycardia (v-tach). Before reviewing these notes, don’t forget to check out the lecture on ventricular tachycardia (V-tach). Characteristics and Criteria of Ventricular Tachycardia (V-tach) This rhythm is occurring because there is an abnormal electrical signal in […]

This review explains the QT interval on the ECG/EKG. Before diving right into these parts of the ECG waveform, we must go back and review the basic anatomy and physiology of the heart’s electrical conduction system. Electrical Conduction System of the Heart:  It all starts in the: SA Node (sinoatrial node): this node is located […]

This review will cover how to identify Normal Sinus Rhythm on the ECG/EKG. As a nurse you want to be able to identify different types of heart rhythms in a patient. These types include: First-Degree Heart Block Second-Degree Type I (Mobitz type I or Wenckebach) Second-Degree Type II (Mobitz type II) Third-Degree (Complete) Heart Block […]

This review explains the ST segment, T wave, and U wave on the ECG/EKG. Before diving right into these parts of the ECG waveform, we must go back and review the basic anatomy and physiology of the heart’s electrical conduction system. Electrical Conduction System of the Heart:  It all starts in the: SA Node (sinoatrial […]

This review explains the p wave on the ECG/EKG. Before diving right into what a p wave is, we must go back and review the basic anatomy and physiology of the heart’s electrical conduction system. Electrical Conduction System of the Heart:  It all starts in the: SA Node (sinoatrial node): this node is located in […]

This review demonstrates how to analyze an EKG strip to interpret a heart rhythm. Before reviewing this material, be sure to check out the lecture on how to analyze an ECG strip. To do this, you can use a 6 second ECG strip. The strip should be made up of 30 large squares. Anytime you […]