Heart Failure Guidelines The 2009 revision of the ACC/AHA Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Heart Failure in Adults contains a number of evidence-based updates, revised text, and a new section called "hospitalized patient" (Hunt et al. e395). These revisions are the result of a task force that convened in 2008 and represent new findings published between 2005 and 2008. Four stages along a continuum of heart failure are described, with

Heart failure has been described as a "complex clinical syndrome that results from either structural or functional impairment of ventricular filling or ejection," (Alspach, 2014, p. 1). Because of the multifaceted nature of heart failure, it is important to recognize its various symptoms and dimensions. Heart failure in general presents a major public health concern, with current prevalence at over five million adults in the United States and over 650,000

Heart Failure Literature Critique of Articles concerning Heart Failure The two articles in this literature review are concerned with different aspects of care for patients diagnosed with some stage of heart failure (HF). Heart failure is one of the most prevalent and debilitating diseases worldwide and is the leading cause for hospitalizations for people older than 65 years (Schwarz, Mion, Hudock & Litman, 2007). These two articles look at ways of

M.K., a 45-year-old female who has a history of Type II diabetes mellitus and primary hypertension. In addition to this, M.K. is overweight and persists with a poor diet. The patient has also been smoking for the past 22 years, and has recently been diagnosed with chronic bronchitis. Current symptoms include chronic cough, which tends to be more severe in the mornings and productive with sputum, light-headedness, distended neck

Treatment of Heart Failure in Nursing Home Residents Heart failure (HF) symptoms may occur because of systemic and pulmonary congestion, structural defects arising on account of HF, structural defects leading to HF, or from treatment complications. At first, studies addressing the issue of heart failure focused on HF patients and decreased left ventricular contraction. As a result, therapies were tested within this patient cluster. This patient cluster's agreed description is HF