ABSTRACT
Critical care nurses often care for critically ill patients who require pulmonary artery catheterization. Nurses need an extensive knowledge base to understand the various technical and physiologic factors that may affect the accuracy of pressure measurements. Continued nursing research is needed to refine and guide the development of nursing practice standards in caring for patients who require pulmonary artery pressure monitoring.
Subject(s)
Catheterization, Swan-Ganz , Monitoring, Physiologic/methods , Pulmonary Wedge Pressure , Critical Care , Hemodynamics , Humans , Monitoring, Physiologic/instrumentation , Monitoring, Physiologic/nursing , Patient Care PlanningABSTRACT
Cardiac output is a hemodynamic parameter used by critical care nurses to guide and evaluate therapy. The thermodilution method of cardiac output measurement has allowed this parameter to be obtained at the bedside that is easily performed, timely, and reliable. Despite the relative simplicity in measuring cardiac output with the thermodilution method, it is not without problems. Potential physiologic and technical problems may yield erroneous cardiac output values. Critical care nurses must strive to maintain up-to-date knowledge and skill in performing thermodilution cardiac output measurements to ensure accurate and reliable values.
