Page 207 - Critical Care Nursing Demystified

192 CRITICAL CARE NURSING DeMYSTIFIED

Electrodes
RA LA
v 1 v 2
v 3
v 6
v 4 v 5

RL LL

FIGURE 4–7 • Placement of ECG electrodes. Downloaded by [ Faculty of Nursing, Chiangmai University 5.62.158.117] at [07/18/16]. Copyright © McGraw-Hill Global Education Holdings, LLC. Not to be redistributed or modified in any way without permission.

5 Medications That Help With Rhythm Stabilization

TABLE 4–5 Cardiac Medications With Symptoms

Rhythm Disturbance Treatment
Symptomatic bradycardias and Atropine
heart blocks Epinephrine
Find the underlying cause
Tachycardias Beta-blockers
Calcium channel blockers
Find the underlying cause
Ventricular tachycardia If stable with a pulse, procainamide
(Pronestyl)
If unstable without a pulse, amiodarone
and perhaps sotalol (Betapace)
Electrolytes like potassium, magnesium,
or calcium may need to be replaced