Nursing Case Study: G. S. Iv Congestive Heart Failure

G.S. is a very pleasant 83 year old white female admitted to the unit on 10/29/15 for congestive heart failure and shortness of breath. This is her second time being admitted within a week of discharge for the same diagnosis. G.S. is a widow who lives along at home. She has never smoked and does not drink alcohol. She is, however, a little on the obese side. Her niece is her power of attorney and she does have an advance directive. She has a family history of heart disease and hypertension, and has stated that all of the men on her side of the family have died relatively young from heart attacks. Her past medical history includes hypothyroidism, diabetes type 2, peptic ulcer disease, acute kidney disease, seizures, coronary artery disease, hypertension, transient ischemia, uterine cancer, and non-hodgkins lymphoma. Her mood is pleasant with spats of feeling down relating to her recent admission and health problems. She however remains optimistic that this time around the doctors will figure out a good medication regime, where she will be able to stay home and not keep returning to the hospital. …show more content…
The heart is a complex and vital organ that pumps around 6,000 quarts of blood through the body and beats around 100,000 times a day. Risk factors for congestive heart failure include coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, heart valve disease, cardiomyopathy, cigarette smoking, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes.
Congestive heart failure is a syndrome of a ventricular dysfunction, where the heart is not able to pump enough blood with each beat to meet the oxygen requirements of the heart and other body tissues. The heart starts pumping weaker than normal and the blood moves through the heart at a slower rate and pressure in the heart increases and becomes