Nursing Download

Unit I, Nursing’s Perspective: Past, Present and Future, explores many aspects that are essential to nursing. A historical overview of early leaders and social forces that have influenced the development of nursing practice is provided. The theoretical frameworks for guiding professional practice and the significance of incorporating research into nursing practice are emphasized. The evolution of our current health care delivery system is discussed with attention given to proposals for change. Unit II, Nursing Process, The Standard of Care, explains each component of the nursing process. The nursing process is the framework for delivering holistic care in an organized scientific manner. A chapter on critical thinking leads the unit discussion of the five phases of the nursing process. Unit III, The Therapeutic Nature of Nursing, discusses the caring nature of nursing as demonstrated through therapeutic communication and actions. Nursing, by definition and purpose, is a therapeutic pr...

An ECG is a way to measure and diagnose abnormal rhythms of the heart, particularly abnormal rhythms caused by damage to the conductive tissue that carries electrical signals, or abnormal rhythms caused by electrolyte imbalances. In a myocardial infarction (MI), the ECG can identify if the heart muscle has been damaged in specific areas, though not all areas of the heart are covered. The ECG cannot reliably measure the pumping ability of the heart, for which ultrasound-based (echocardiography) or nuclear medicine tests are used. It is possible for a human or other animal to be in cardiac arrest, but still have a normal ECG signal (a condition known as pulseless electrical activity). The ECG device detects and amplifies the tiny electrical changes on the skin that are caused when the heart muscle depolarizes during each heartbeat. At rest, each heart muscle cell has a negative charge, called the membrane potential, across its cell membrane. Decreasing this negative charge towards zero, ...