University:
West Coast University
Course:
NURS 110 | Introduction to Professional Nursing
Academic year:

2021
Views:

101

Pages:

1
Author:

sommatosmby

Ventricular Rhythms All of the dysrhythmias which you have learned thus far are classified as supraventricular dysrhythmias, because they originate from above the ventricles. When a rhythm originates from above the ventricles (and thereby travels down the normal right and left bundles to the Purkinje fibers) the QRS is .12 seconds or less. When rhythms originate in the ventricles, they generally have a QRS >.12 seconds because they are coming from an area outside the right and left bundle branches. This is an important concept to remember. Ventricular rhythms are of great importance and can be very dangerous. Our hearts were designed to conduct and contract from the top down (atria to ventricle). When this mechanism is disrupted, we lose our atrial kick and the heart’s efficiency is greatly reduced. The first dysrhythmia is not an actual rhythm, but an occasional ectopic (abnormal) beat originating from an irritable cluster of cells somewhere in either the right of left ventricle.