Heart Failure Patient Assessment

“Heart failure is a chronic, progressive condition in which the heart muscle is unable to pump enough blood through to meet the body's needs for blood and oxygen” (American Heart Association, 2012, para 3). What this basically means is that the body is functioning in a way that the heart cannot keep up with. Although heart failure can be acute and occur suddenly, it usually develops over time and is a long-term or chronic condition. There are two different types of heart failure, left-sided and right-sided, and they can be caused by other diseases such as diabetes, coronary heart disease, or high blood pressure (National Institutes of Health, 2012). In most cases, both sides of the heart are affected simultaneously.

Signs and symptoms of heart failure include shortness of breath, edema, rapid or irregular heartbeat, weakness, and elevated blood pressure. These signs and symptoms appear slowly in the disease, such as when a person is active, but overtime they will become present when that person is at rest (Couzens, 2014). People at risk for heart failure include those who have sleep apnea, have had a heart attack, have high blood pressure, have diabetes, are overweight, and those abuse alcohol use. There are many other risk factors also; these are just to name few.

Patient Assessment

Glen Carver is a 56 year old male who was admitted unto the cardiovascular care unit 48 hours ago with the diagnosis of heart failure. Mr. Carver went to see his primary care provider with complaints of dyspnea on exertion, a nonproduction cough, decreased activity intolerance, and general fatigue all of which have been worsening over the past two months. The primary care provider found Mr. Carver to have lower extremity swelling, profound ...

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...aks for rest and to catch ones breath.

Evaluation and Conclusion

The best way to prevent heart failure is to minimize the risks that cause it and to control existing health problems that are related to the condition such as high blood pressure and diabetes. If a person does happen to have heart failure there are many medications and treatments that can help control the disease and help the patient continue to live as normal of a life as possible. After being discharged from the hospital Mr. Carver will have to be aware of his condition at all times and take the proper measures to keep himself healthy. He will have to make many life changes and continue to keep up on any appointments made to make sure his condition is under control. With the proper understanding and management of his disease, Mr. Carver will be in a good condition to resume his life as before.