Question

The patient has a permanent pacemaker in place with a demand rate set at 60 beats/min. The cardiac monitor is showing a heart rate of 44 beats/min with no pacemaker spikes. The nurse realizes this as:

a. normal pacemaker function.
b. failure to capture.
c. failure to pace.
d. failure to sense.

Answer 1

The condition where a pacemaker shows no spikes on the monitor and the heart rate is below the set demand rate would be diagnosed as failure to pace, indicating that the pacemaker is not functioning as intended.

Step-by-step explanation:

The scenario described, where a patient with a pacemaker set to a demand rate of 60 beats per minute is showing a heart rate of 44 beats per minute with no pacemaker spikes, indicates a problem with pacemaker function. This situation would be recognized as failure to pace. The pacemaker is not providing the electrical impulses needed to maintain the set heart rate, which could be due to a variety of issues such as battery depletion, lead dislodgement, or a malfunction within the pacemaker's circuitry.