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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

MNEMONIC FOR HYPERTENSION MANAGEMENT

Management of Hypertension comes in many forms, from lifestyle modification to the use of different anti-hypertensive medications. Always remember, a nurse "DEALS" with this common illness in a usual hospital setting. Below illustration shows the mnemonic to treat or manage Hypertension.

Diet Modification means avoiding foods that are high in fats such as organ meats, butter, lard, ghee, dairy fats and other meat products. This also include avoiding food that are high in Sodium (salted foods, ham, sausages, cheese, pizza, canned goods etc.)

Exercising regularly helps lowering your Blood Pressure, this may include walking, jogging, bicycling, swimming and many more. 

Below shows the list of the most common Anti-Hypertensive medications:
  1. Diuretics
  2. Adrenergic receptor antagonists
  3. Renin Inhibitors
  4. ACE inhibitors
  5. Angiotensin II receptor antagonists
  6. Aldosterone receptor antagonists
  7. Vasodilators
  8. Benzodiazepines
  9. Calcium channel blockers

Meanwhile, lifestyle changes can also help a lot, this involves losing weight if you are obese or limiting yourself to drinking alcohol.

Lastly, the most crucial part of avoiding complications from Hypertension is to quit smoking.


MNEMONIC FOR HYPERTENSION SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

We always want to make sure that are readers will learn different nursing theories the easiest way possible. One way to grasp each information is through the use of different mnemonics. Here is the "CHIEF" mnemonic for  Hypertension Signs and Symptoms.

Change in vision is one of the signs and symptoms associated with Hypertension, this is due to the damage in the retina from high blood pressure within its blood vessels. Damage to blood vessels in the heart can also cause chest pain (angina).

During cases of hypertensive crisis, one may also experience headaches due to intracranial hypertension. Treatment program should begin when BP stays at 140/90 overtime.

Other symptoms include irritability, forgetfulness and epistaxis because of damage in the tiny blood vessels of the nostrils.

 

MNEMONIC FOR CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE MANAGEMENT

Congestive Heart Failure management includes number of non-pharmacological, pharmacological, and invasive strategies to limit and reverse the signs and symptoms of heart failure depending on the severity of the disease.

When thinking of the possible medical management for Congestive Heart Failure, always remember another condition called "DWARFISM" for it's mnemonic.

CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE MANAGEMENT
D-iuretics/digoxin/deliver oxygen
W-eigh patient daily
A-minophylline
R-otating torniquet
F-owler's position
I-ntake and output monitoring
S-odium restriction
M-orphine/mechanical ventilation

CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS MNEMONIC

Differentiating the signs and symptoms of Congestive Heart Failure between right sided and left sided can be very confusing.

Left Sided CHF signs and symptoms:
  1.  fatigue
  2. orthopnea
  3. rales/restlesness
  4. cyanosis/confusion
  5. extreme weakness
  6. dyspnea
Right Sided CHF signs and symptoms:
  1. bloating
  2. anorexia
  3. cyanosis/cool legs
  4. oliguria
  5. nausea
  6. edema
  7. distended neck veins
 
 

Above illustration shows a helpful mnemonic for nurses, nursing students and other health professionals to easily differentiate the signs and symptoms between Right Sided Congestive Heart Failure and Left Sided Congestive Heart Failure.