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Open Heart Observation

The document describes an observation of open heart surgery where a Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting procedure was performed to bypass blocked arteries and improve blood flow to the heart by using a vein from the patient's leg, and discusses the cardiopulmonary bypass machine used and nursing priorities for post-operative care like pain management.

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47 views2 pages

Open Heart Observation

The document describes an observation of open heart surgery where a Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting procedure was performed to bypass blocked arteries and improve blood flow to the heart by using a vein from the patient's leg, and discusses the cardiopulmonary bypass machine used and nursing priorities for post-operative care like pain management.

Uploaded by

api-455767723
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Indiya Benjamin

Open Heart Observation

My open-heart observation was amazing. It was really nice to get to see an actual

pumping human heart still inside their body. The type of surgery that I watched in my open-heart

observation was a Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting or better known as CABG. CABG is a heart

surgery that is used to improve blood flow to the heart, this kind of surgery is for patients who

have coronary heart disease. When a patient has Coronary heart disease the arteries to the heart

are blocked or narrowed by a substance called plaque, which blocks the flow of oxygen-rich

blood to the heart. The blockage of the oxygen rich blood to the heart can cause a patient to

experience shortness of breath, angina, and a heart attack. The doctor took the saphenous vein

from the patient’s leg and used that as the bypass graft. This patient needed three graft’s so the

doctor cut the saphenous vein into 3 pieces to use. The new vein is a great replacement for

adequate blood flow to the heart.

During the procedure the patient was put on a cardiopulmonary bypass machine and the

purpose for this machine is to act as the body’s heart and lungs while the actual heart and lungs

are stopped in order for the doctor to do the procedure. The machine maintains the circulation of

blood and the oxygen content of the patient’s body.

An ethical concern related to open-heart surgery or post- operative care is difficulties

with believing the patient’s complaints regarding pain and suffering. The more the nurse is

involved with and around the patient this can minimize the consequences of poor judgements.

The nurse can pick up the patient’s behaviors related to pain and treat them accordingly.

Nursing management priorities for a patient’s requiring coronary bypass surgery

will include but not limit to assessing and comparing to established baselines, and trends.

Implementing interventions to optimize oxygen delivery, implementing interventions to decrease


oxygen consumption, and administrating related drug therapy and monitor for therapeutic and

nontherapeutic effects.

I had an awesome experience observing the open-heart surgery. You learn a lot while

observing the actual work of the team. Seeing the bypass machine and the actual saphenous vein

being removed from the patient’s leg plus the nurses repairing it and making sure it is going to be

in perfect condition for the patient to pump blood to the heart was cool the watch. Actually being

able to see a human heart still pumping in the chest of the patient was awesome. I would

recommend this observation to other students.

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