Nurses should know what are our responsibilities with regards to CVP Monitoring. We should be knowledgeable enough about the procedure.
A catheter is inserted to the right atrium of the heart to determine fluid balance. The normal functioning of the heart, all the fluids that come to the heart is pump out from the heart. If it does not happen you’ll have Congestive Heart Failure. We try to figure out how the heart handles the volume of blood coming in.
The measuring point of the CVP is in the right atrium. What you should do is level up the right atrium with the manometer. Make sure that the manometer is the same level with the right atrium. Use a lever to balance it out.
NCLEX Q – CVP pt if the head of the bed is adjusted you have to adjust the manometer otherwise you will get a false reading.
Normal CVP reading 5-10 cm H20. More than 10cm is indicative of overload. Less than 5cm patient is dry or dehydrated.
Always check the lever of the manometer. Check the insertion site of the catheter for bleeding and other complication like pneumothorax or hemothorax. Signs and symptoms is shortness of breath.