Coronary Artery Disease

1. Signs and Symptoms

1.1. Chest pain or feelings of pressure in the chest (Ignatavicius, Rebar, and Workman, 2018).

1.2. Patients experiencing a Myocardial infarction: elevated temperature (Ignatavicius, Rebar, and Workman, 2018).

1.3. Auscultate the lungs: hearing crackles may indicate fluid buildup and heart failure (Ignatavicius, Rebar, and Workman, 2018).

1.4. Hypertension and elevated blood pressure (Ignatavicius, Rebar, and Workman, 2018).

2. Chronic Stable Angina

2.1. Pathophysiology

2.1.1. Chest pain brought on by ischemia. The ischemia causes permanent damage to they myocardium (Ignatavicius, Rebar, and Workman, 2018).

3. Acute Coronary Syndrome

3.1. Pathophysiology

3.1.1. Unstable angina or acute myocardial infractions that are thought to be cause by the plaque build up within the blood vessels. The obstruction of the vessel from the fatty plaque buildup is what causes the infarct or angina (Ignatavicius, Rebar, and Workman, 2018).

4. Risk Factors

4.1. Metabolic syndrome (having three of the following conditions/factors): smoking tobacco, poor diet, poor monitoring and prevention of high cholesterol, sedentary lifestyle, diabetes, hypertension, obesity (Ignatavicius, Rebar, and Workman, 2018).

5. Nursing interventions

5.1. When a patient is experiencing chest pain, administer nitroglycerin as prescribed (Ignatavicius, Rebar, and Workman, 2018).

5.2. During ischemic attacks, implement bed rest to decrease the oxygen demand the body has (Ignatavicius, Rebar, and Workman, 2018).

5.3. Administer oxygen as prescribed in the event of a myocardial infarction (Ignatavicius, Rebar, and Workman, 2018).

5.4. Administer other medications to treat hypertension and heart failure (diuretics, beta blockers, ACE-I, aspirin, etc.) as prescribed, monitor for side effects, hypotension, and effectiveness (Ignatavicius, Rebar, and Workman, 2018).

6. References Ignatavicius, D. D., Workman, M. L., & Rebar, C. R. (2018). Medical-surgical nursing: Concepts for interprofessional collaborative care. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.