Nursing Assessment for Myocarditis

Nursing Assessment for Myocarditis

In medicine (cardiology), myocarditis is inflammation of heart muscle (myocardium). It resembles a heart attack but coronary arteries are not blocked.

Myocarditis is most often due to infection by common viruses, such as parvovirus B19, less commonly non-viral pathogens such as Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease) or Trypanosoma cruzi, or as a hypersensitivity response to drugs.

Nursing Assessment for Myocarditis

Assessment is the first step and foundation in the nursing process as a whole (Boedihartono, 1994: 10).

Assessment of patients Myocarditis (Marilynn E. Doenges, 1999) include:

Activity / rest
Symptoms: fatigue, weakness.
Signs: tachycardia, decreased blood pressure, dyspnea with activity.

Circulation
Symptoms: a history of rheumatic fever, congenital heart disease, cardiac surgery, palpitations, fainting.
Signs: tachycardia, dysrhythmias, the point of maximal impulse displacement, cardiomegaly, frivtion rub, murmurs, rhythm gallops (S3 and S4), edema, DVJ, petechiae, splinter hemorrhage, Osler nodes, Janeway lesions.

Elimination
Symptoms: a history of kidney disease / renal failure; decreased frequency / amount of urine.
Signs: dark concentrated urine.

Pain / discomfort
Symptoms: pain in the anterior chest (moderate to severe / sharp) aggravated by inspiration, coughing, swallowing move, lie down.
Signs: distraction behavior, such as anxiety.

Respiratory
Symptoms: shortness of breath; chronically short of breath worse at night (myocarditis).
Signs: dyspnea, DNP (paroxismal nocturnal dyspnea), coughing, wheezing inspiration; tachypnea, cracles, and Ronchi; shallow breathing.