Critical Care Nursing Study Guide Graded A+

What do you continuously monitor while the catheter is being advanced? {Ans: Characteristics waveforms on the monitor.}How often do you flush a arterial line system? {Ans: Every 1 - 4 hours.}When positioned properly where is the PA catheter located? {Ans: The distal lumen exit port is in the PA and the proximal lumen ports are in the right atrium and right ventricle.}What do you assess before a PA catheter insertion? {Ans: Electrolyte, acid-base, oxygenation, coagulation status.}What does a low CVP indicate? {Ans: Hypovolemia.}What do you perform before inserting a line into a radial artery? {Ans: Allen test.}What is the Stroke Volume? {Ans: The volume ejected with each heartbeat.}What is CVP? {Ans: A measurement of right ventricular preload.}What does a low SVR indicate? {Ans: Vasodilation, which may occur in shock states (e.g., septic, neurogenic) or with drugs that reduce afterload.}What is the normal CO? {Ans: 4 - 8 L/min.}What is Pulmonary Vascular Resistance? {Ans: The resistance of the pulmonary vascular bed.}How is the PA catheter inserted? {Ans: Through a sheath percutaneously into the internal jugular, subclavian, antecubital, or femral vein using surgical asepsis. It is advanced to the right