Nursing Leadership & Management

Cardiovascular Nursing

Cardiac Nursing is a nursing specialty that works with patients who suffer from various conditions of the cardiovascular system. Cardiac nurses help treat conditions such as unstable angina, cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction and cardiac dysrhythmia under the direction of a cardiologist. Cardiac nurses perform postoperative care on a surgical unit, stress test evaluations, cardiac monitoring, vascular monitoring, and health assessments. Cardiac nurses must have Basic Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support certification. In addition, cardiac nurses must possess specialized skills including electrocardiogram monitoring, defibrillation, and medication administration by continuous intravenous drip. Cardiac nurses work in many different environments, including coronary care units (CCU), cardiac catheterization, intensive care units (ICU), operating theatres, cardiac rehabilitation centers, clinical

Cardiovascular disease is responsible for 30 per cent of deaths in women in Canada. Every 7 minutes in Canada, someone dies from heart disease or stroke. Heart disease and stroke are two of the three leading causes of death in Canada. With average mortality rates of 200 deaths or more from heart disease and stroke per 100,000 populations. Heart disease and stroke accounted for close to 20 per cent of all deaths in Canada (46,852 deaths) in 2011.Overall, Canada ranks 6th among the 16 peer countries and scores a “B” grade. Between 2009 and 2011, an average of 141.9 Canadians died per 100,000 populations due to heart disease and stroke. There are 678000 annual deaths in Canada. The total number of inpatient cardiovascular operations and procedures increased 28% between 2000 and 2010, from 5939000 to 7588 000.