Exam Guide
Right-Sided Heart Failure: What the Nurse Should Expect
Cardiac · Question from the ATI RN Medical-Surgical 2023 Proctored Exam study set
Correct answer: C. Peripheral edema
Why this is the answer
Right-sided heart failure means the right ventricle can't effectively pump blood forward into the lungs, so blood backs up into the systemic venous system — producing jugular venous distention, hepatomegaly, and dependent/peripheral edema. Pulmonary edema (A) and crackles in the lungs (B) are left-sided heart failure findings, since it's the left ventricle's failure to pump forward that backs blood up into the pulmonary circulation. Dyspnea (D) is also primarily associated with the pulmonary congestion of left-sided failure rather than being the most specific right-sided finding.
The bigger concept
The key to heart-failure "which side" questions is remembering which circulation backs up: left-sided failure backs up into the lungs (crackles, pulmonary edema, dyspnea), while right-sided failure backs up into the systemic venous system (peripheral edema, JVD, ascites, weight gain).
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