The purpose of the research was to develop knowledge on the causes and complications of a prolonged QTc interval. The importance of looking at the research was developed because of a life threatening complication of a prolonged QT interval, torsades de pointes. Torsades de pointes is an arrhythmia that is characterized by the two lower heart chambers beating fast (Long QT syndrome, 2017). When this arrhythmia occurs, less blood is pumped out from your heart. If this arrhythmia is sustained, it can lead to ventricular fibrillation which causes the ventricles to beat so fast that the heart quivers and blood flow in ceased (Long QT syndrome, 2017). Therefore, with this being said, the importance of this research and developing a process to implement to prevent these deadly arrhythmias from occurring is essential in providing more efficient care. Once the initial research was completed, each staff member on my unit was educated on QTc interval prolongation. There are several factors that come into play when monitoring for a prolonged QT interval. When assessing and looking over our patient information, each staff member were to make note of their patients current medication list, as
The purpose of the research was to develop knowledge on the causes and complications of a prolonged QTc interval. The importance of looking at the research was developed because of a life threatening complication of a prolonged QT interval, torsades de pointes. Torsades de pointes is an arrhythmia that is characterized by the two lower heart chambers beating fast (Long QT syndrome, 2017). When this arrhythmia occurs, less blood is pumped out from your heart. If this arrhythmia is sustained, it can lead to ventricular fibrillation which causes the ventricles to beat so fast that the heart quivers and blood flow in ceased (Long QT syndrome, 2017). Therefore, with this being said, the importance of this research and developing a process to implement to prevent these deadly arrhythmias from occurring is essential in providing more efficient care. Once the initial research was completed, each staff member on my unit was educated on QTc interval prolongation. There are several factors that come into play when monitoring for a prolonged QT interval. When assessing and looking over our patient information, each staff member were to make note of their patients current medication list, as