Medical Assistant Prep / Unit 23 MAS 561 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Kinds of Irregular Rhythm
The idea
Irregular rhythms differ in how irregular they are, and the pattern helps the provider identify them.
In practice
First, an irregularly irregular rhythm has R-to-R distances that are never equal, as in atrial fibrillation. Second, a regularly irregular rhythm has unequal distances that repeat in a pattern. Third, an occasionally irregular rhythm is regular except for an occasional early beat, as with scattered premature ventricular contractions. Recognizing that a rhythm is irregular, and which kind of irregularity it shows, tells you what to describe to the provider.
Where people slip
Your task is to recognize that a rhythm is irregular, check the patient, and report it promptly with the tracing. Naming the rhythm as a diagnosis, and deciding what it means for the patient, belongs to the provider.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
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