Cardiogenic shock happens when the heart can't pump enough blood to the body's organs. Christina Rafano explains the three main causes: myocardial infarction, cardiac arrhythmias, and valvular dysfunction. She breaks down each one with plain language and analogies for nursing students.
Hey there, friend. My name is Christina Rafano from nursingschoolofsuccess.com and in this video we are going to talk about one of the types of shock, cardiogenic shock. Now, I know this is one of the trickier topics to understand in nursing school, right? So I'm gonna break it down super simple for you so that you can actually remember it and finally understand it. And of course, you, you know me. I've got a free cheat sheet just for you, all about shock. So make sure to stick around until the end of the video and I will let you know where you can snag that. And if you love nursing school concepts broken down super simple and easy for you to understand, then of course be sure to subscribe to this channel because, well, that's just what we do around here to make nursing school way easier for you. So make sure that you subscribe and hit that. That bell. Okay? So before we dive into the nitty gritty of cardiogenic shock, we need to first understand shock itself, what it actually is. So shock just means that there is a lack of blood flow to the organs. The organs are unhappy and they start to not work properly. So when you think of shock, think of a lack of blood flow. And of course, when there's a lack of blood flow to the organs, the organs are going to start to fail. They're not happy, right? So that is what shock is. It's a lack of blood flow that leads the organs to fail. And cardiogenic shock is a type of shock. So let's talk about that. So during cardiogenic shock, there is something wrong with the heart itself. So the heart itself is not doing its job. Well, the heart itself can't pump out enough blood to keep the organs happy. So cardiogenic shock means that there is something wrong with the actual heart itself. It can't do its job. So this can be caused by things like a myocardial infarction or heart attack, cardiac arrhythmias, valve issues, or anything like that that actually prevents the actual heart itself from pumping out blood to the body. So let's think about this. So during a myocardial infarction or an mi, there's a blockage in one of the little vessels around the heart called the coronary arteries. So the heart itself is actually not getting blood. And of course, if the heart isn't getting blood, it can' do its job. So in the case of a myocardial infarction, the heart itself isn't working properly because it's not getting the blood flow that it needs to function because of that heart attack, that mi. Now, what about cardiac arrhythmias? Well, during cardiac arrhythmias, the heart is going all crazy and it isn't able to consistently give blood to the body. Again, this is a heart issue. So cardiac arrhythmias can also lead to cardiogenic shock because it is a problem with the actual heart itself. And the same goes for any valve issues within the heart. If the heart valves aren't moving blood in the right direction, either they're letting blood back flow or they're too narrow and not letting enough blood move forward into the system, then that can lead to a lack of blood flow to the body too, which can also lead to cardiogenic shock. Now, this is again a problem with the actual heart itself. The valves aren't functioning properly. So because it's an issue with the actual heart, we call it cardiogenic shock. So obviously, if the heart can't pump blood out to the body and do its job well, there's not enough blood going to the organs into the rest of the body. So shock is possible in these cases because there is a lack of blood flow to the organs. And that is cardiogenic shock for you. Cardiogenic shock simply means that there is something wrong with the heart itself so it can't function properly, which causes a lack of blood flow to the organs and to the rest of the body and the organs start to fail. And like I promised, I've got a free cheat sheet just for you to download. So there's a link to that in the description below, so be sure to snag that. And of course, if you liked this video, let me know. Leave a comment below, hit that like button, share it with your friends. And of course, be sure to subscribe and hit that bell so you never miss a video and ever. Thanks for being here, friend. And thanks for being awesome. Now go become the nurse that God created only you to be. And I will catch you right back here next time on the nursing school show. Take care of.
