In this video we're diving into what diastolic heart failure actually is.
You've probably heard about it in nursing school and you definitely need to know the
pathophysiology for it.
So I'm actually going to walk you through the 4 steps of diastolic heart failure, so
that you can finally understand it.
Let's do it.
My name is Christina Rafano from nursingschoolofsuccess.com and here on the nursing school show we give
you the tips and resources you need to be successful in your RN program.
And today, I've got another step-by-step video for you, I know you like things broken down
step-by-step, and today it's all about diastolic heart failure.
So when you think about diastolic heart failure, I want you to think of big, big muscles.
So your heart is a muscle, right?
And when it works really really hard, that muscle gets bigger.
And that's what's happening during diastolic heart failure.
The heart has to work super duper hard, and it's muscles, those ventricles, get bigger.
And when this happens, the ventricles can't relax as much, they get really tight.
So let's think about this: When you go to the gym and work out REALLY hard, your muscles
get bigger.
And what do you do afterward?
You stretch your muscles, or else they'll get really tight.
And that's exactly what's going on here.
The heart has been working out so hard, but it hasn't had a break to stretch itself out.
So over time, it just gets bigger and bigger, and more tight, and the heart just can't relax.
So let's put this into a step by step process, you know I'm all about the steps and I know
you love them too.
So here's a step-by-step process for diastolic heart failure, now you won't see this anywhere
else, I just made it up to make learning this a whole lot easier for you.
So the first step is a trigger or a cause.
This is something that is causing the heart to have to work super hard.
So for diastolic heart failure, it could be things like hypertension, so the heart has
a tough time pumping out blood into all those smaller blood vessels, or ischemia, where
there's just isn't enough blood going to the heart.
There's many possible causes, but it all comes down to the heart needing to work harder,
or possibly genetics.
Now, the second step of diastolic heart failure is that the heart works super duper hard to
pump that blood out, and the ventricles get bigger and tighter.
And this leads to the 3rd step, which is where the ventricles of the heart can't relax because
they are so tight.
So the ventricles are getting bigger and thicker, and they can't relax.
And the 4th step, and the key really to all of this, is a decrease in cardiac output.
This is a big fancy phrase for how much blood the heart can pump out in one minute.
So in diastolic heart failure, the ventricles are getting so big, so naturally, there isn't
as much space inside them for blood to fill.
So because there's not as much blood inside the ventricles to start out with, there's
less blood being pumped out to the body.
And this is where you end up with those signs and symptoms of heart failure: shortness of
breath, swelling, fatigue, crackles in the lungs, decreased urine output, all of those
things.
Now if you're a NursingSOS member, I have a whole video for you inside of the membership
community on the signs and symptoms of heart failure.
It walks you through the signs and symptoms, as well as some critical thinking so that
you understand the "why" behind each one.
So if you're a NursingSOS member, you will definitely want check that video out.
And if you aren't?
GIRRRRLLLL, head on over there and sign up, you are going to LOVE it!
Alright, so that is what's happening during diastolic heart failure: the heart is working
so hard that is gets really big, and stiff, and it just can't relax.
And this causes the cardiac output to decrease, so the body just isn't getting as much blood
as it was before.
So I hope that helped you understand diastolic heart failure a little better.
If you loved this step-by-step guide for diastolic heart failure: write LOVE in the comments
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Thanks for being here friend, now go become the nurse that God created only YOU to be.
I'll catch you next time on the nursing school show.
Take care.