Management of patients with complications from heart disease

This chapter will review cardiac haemodynamics and outline the aetiology and diagnostic criteria used in the management of heart disease. It is important that as you read this chapter you maintain a person-focussed approach to care and consider the individual within the context of their culture, community and social circumstances (Ekman et al., 2011). As heart failure is the final common pathway of many chronic conditions, a focus of this chapter will be on the nurse’s role in the management of heart failure. In order to provide effective care to patients it is important to understand physiological factors influencing heart function and subsequent systemic effects