Urgent Care Insights: 6 Tips to Sharpen Your EKG Interpretation Skills

Jennifer Carlquist, PA-C, and course director of The Urgent Care EKG Course shares 6 helpful tips when looking at EKGs from patients in urgent care. 

  1. According to a new study published in Circulation, adverse pregnancy outcomes such as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preterm delivery, gestational diabetes, small-for-gestational-age delivery, placental abruption, and pregnancy loss increase a woman’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors and of developing subsequent CVD.
  2. If you have a lot of artifact, you cannot trust the QT measurement of the machine. You must have a clean tracing to use this number with accuracy.
  3. When someone has syncope, and they possess a first-degree block with no other conduction abnormalities, this is not the reason for their syncope.
  4. If someone has a heart murmur, and they are young, place them into a squat position. If it gets louder there is concern for under Hocm which can be lethal.
  5. One of the most important questions you can ask your patient is did they have any young ACS or sudden death in the family. If they do, their risk elevates greatly.
  6. When someone has a new onset A fib, you must do a stress test at some point in their workout, to determine if ischemic substrate is a factor.

This course is ideal for PAs and NPs practicing in urgent care. Whether you’re new to practice or have many years of experience, you’re sure to learn practical, evidence-based tips you can use on your next shift. You can sharpen your EKG interpretation skills, improve your accuracy, become more proficient, and boost your clinical confidence with The Urgent Care EKG Course.

Visit https://www.ebmedicine.net/ekg to learn more.

Even more content:

Check out one of our latest reels (less than one minute!) by Jennifer Carlquist, the course director.

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Last Updated on March 22, 2024

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