1

A patient on your ward complains that her heart is ‘racing’ and you find that the pulse is too fast to manually palpate. What would your actions be?

  • Shout for help and run to collect the crash trolley.

  • Ask the patient to calm down and check her most recent set of bloods and fluid balance.

  • A full set of observations: blood pressure, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation and temperature. It is essential to perform a 12 lead ECG. The patient should then be reviewed by the doctor.

  • Check baseline observations and refer to the cardiology team.