Nursing Care: Congestive Heart Failure
Nursing Care: Congestive Heart Failure
Beverly Baum, Chrysten Brown and Christina Bhowanidan
Herzing University
Nursing Care: Congestive Heart Failure The general population is living longer than ever before. The Federal Interagency on Aging-Related Statistics (2012) states “The number of older people will increase dramatically during 2010-2030 period. The older population in 2030 is projected to be twice as large as their counterparts in 2000, growing from 35 million to 72 million and representing nearly 20% of the total U.S. population.” Major medical advancements in the realm of research, technology and pharmacology continue to treat and manage conditions and diseases that once were considered untreatable. Within the past twenty years, these advancements have shown promise with many conditions considered untreatable such as, congestive heart failure (CHF), where a client’s life can be improved and extended. In the United States, 400,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure each year, and approximately ten to twenty percent of affected persons die from the disease annually. Heart failure costs the nation roughly 34.4 billion dollars each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Heart failure is one of the most common causes of hospitalizations and re-hospitalizations in the U.S. This is especially true for clients age sixty-five and older. The body depends on the heart’s pumping action to deliver oxygen and nutrients, via the blood, to the body’s cells. When the cells are nourished properly, the body can function normally. When the heart is still working, but has diminished capability, the term congestive heart failure or heart failure is used to describe this particular condition (the medical community recognizes these terms interchangeably). “Heart failure is a complex, extensive, and expensive clinical problem. The general term heart failure is frequently used to describe a common endpoint of many conditions affecting
Beverly Baum, Chrysten Brown and Christina Bhowanidan
Herzing University
Nursing Care: Congestive Heart Failure The general population is living longer than ever before. The Federal Interagency on Aging-Related Statistics (2012) states “The number of older people will increase dramatically during 2010-2030 period. The older population in 2030 is projected to be twice as large as their counterparts in 2000, growing from 35 million to 72 million and representing nearly 20% of the total U.S. population.” Major medical advancements in the realm of research, technology and pharmacology continue to treat and manage conditions and diseases that once were considered untreatable. Within the past twenty years, these advancements have shown promise with many conditions considered untreatable such as, congestive heart failure (CHF), where a client’s life can be improved and extended. In the United States, 400,000 people are diagnosed with heart failure each year, and approximately ten to twenty percent of affected persons die from the disease annually. Heart failure costs the nation roughly 34.4 billion dollars each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Heart failure is one of the most common causes of hospitalizations and re-hospitalizations in the U.S. This is especially true for clients age sixty-five and older. The body depends on the heart’s pumping action to deliver oxygen and nutrients, via the blood, to the body’s cells. When the cells are nourished properly, the body can function normally. When the heart is still working, but has diminished capability, the term congestive heart failure or heart failure is used to describe this particular condition (the medical community recognizes these terms interchangeably). “Heart failure is a complex, extensive, and expensive clinical problem. The general term heart failure is frequently used to describe a common endpoint of many conditions affecting