A nurse is making her plan of care for a patient with an atrial septal defect. Upon assessment, the nurse expected to find:

Explanation

•A murmur is heard over the pulmonic area because of the extra amount of blood crossing the pulmonic valve makes it close consistently later than the aortic valve. The second heart sound will be split and fixed.

•Dyspnea and fatigue occur due to blood being shunted away from the systemic circulation and into the pulmonic circulation.

•An ASD is an abnormal communication between the two atria, allowing blood to shift from the left to the right atrium.

•A child with a loud machine murmur, poor feeding, and fatigue is characteristic of patent ductus arteriosus.

•A patient with coarctation of aorta has absent femoral pulses, epistaxis, and lower leg muscle cramps.

•A characteristic murmur and mild cyanosis is found in a patients with an atrioventricular septal defect.

Visit our website for other NCLEX topics now!