These leads are like little cameras, taking a continuous video of the electrical signal of the heart, and transcribing it on to the monitor. But basically, it uses electrodes (sticky pads) that connect to leads (look like thin phone charger cables), which connect to a box or a monitor. Heart monitor is very general term, and they can get very detailed. To be able to continuously view this electrical activity, we have to use a heart monitor. The electrical signal which causes the heart muscle to contract is what is you will see on your ECG monitor. Ok, back to the electrical signal: It goes through a specific pathway through the heart, and then starts back up again. Oxygenated blood provides the body the absolutely essential oxygen, so for this to be impaired, it’s a pretty big deal, and if severe enough, can cause life-altering consequences or even become fatal. Without an effective heart beat, blood doesn’t get pumped appropriately throughout the body (the fancy term for this is “decreased cardiac output” because the heart isn’t pushing out the right amount of blood). Why does the electrical activity of the heart matter, you ask? Well, the electrical activity is essentially what is telling the heart muscles to beat! Without a good, predictable and reliable signal, you cannot have an effective heart beat.
It’s basically measuring the electrical activity of the heart. You may run across people who are adamant one way or the other, but it’s nothing to get your telemetry leads all twisted up 😉 What’s an ECG telling us anyway? You can confidently use EKG and ECG interchangeably. It’s a basic difference in spelling and language (like color vs. Well, it originates from the German spelling of electrocardiogram (elektro-kardiographie). You may be wondering where that K comes from in EKG. You’ll hear it called both, and they both mean electrocardiogram. ECG vs EKG – what’s the differenceīasically, an EKG is the exact same thing as an ECG. When I mention “telemetry” I am referring to a 5-lead cardiac monitoring. We mention those later on, but they are not the focus of this article. Note: While we’re chatting about 5-lead here, you could also run into 3 and 12-lead. Let’s dive into what acute care nurses need to know about 5-Lead EKG/ECG Interpretation so you can look like a pro! (And be way ahead of where I was as a student)
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