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Chapter 2
•
Cardiovascular Care
Teaching About Endocarditis
•
Teach the patient
about the prescribed
antibiotics. Stress
the importance of
taking prescribed
medication and
restricting activities for as long
as the physician orders.
•
Teach the patient to watch
closely for fever, anorexia, and
other signs and symptoms of
relapse after treatment stops.
•
Make sure the patient
understands the need for a
prophylactic antibiotic before,
during, and after dental work,
childbirth, and genitourinary,
GI, or gynecologic procedures.
LESSON PLANS
•
Teach the patient to brush their
teeth with a soft toothbrush, rinse
mouth thoroughly, and avoid
flossing teeth.
•
Teach the patient how to
recognize symptoms of
endocarditis, and to notify the
physician immediately if such
symptoms occur.
TIP:
Antimicrobial therapy for IE
should be dosed to optimize sus-
tained bactericidal serum concentra-
tions throughout the dosing interval
as much as possible.
CARDIOMYOPATHY
Cardiomyopathy is a term to describe
heart disease which results from an
abnormality in the myocardium.
Diseases of the myocardium produce
abnormalities in cardiac wall
thickness, chamber size, mechanical
and/or electrical dysfunction, often
associated with significant morbidity
and mortality.
Nursing Considerations
•
Alternate periods of rest with
required activities of daily living
and treatments. Provide personal
care as needed to prevent fatigue.
•
Provide active or passive range
of motion exercises to prevent
muscle atrophy.
•
Explain the necessity of
maintaining a low-sodium diet.
Normal heart (
A
) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (
B
) in which disproportionate thickening
of the intraventricular septum causes intermittent left ventricular outflow obstruction.
(Reprinted with permission from Porth C.
Essentials of Pathophysiology
. 4th ed. Philadelphia:
Wolters Kluwer; 2015.)
A
B
PICTURING
PATHO