Session Summary
Pulmonary artery catheters (PAC) can be powerful physiologic tools when interpreted correctly to drive appropriate intervention. This session reframes Swan-Ganz Catheter as a clinical decision-support tool—not just a collection of numbers. Join us to review key PAC measures, link them to bedside physiology, apply a “PAC-first-pass framework” to identify shock phenotypes, avoid interpretation pitfalls, recognize patterns of RV stress and pulmonary hypertension, and guide treatment decisions.
Objectives
- Analyze preload, afterload, and contractility patterns using PAC-derived data to rapidly identify multiple shock states (PAC-first pass).
- List two PAC interpretation pitfalls, including ventilator effects, wedge errors, waveform misreads, and “numbers without context”.
Topics
Hemodynamics
Population
Adult
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Successful Completion
Learners must complete the entire activity and the associated evaluation to be awarded contact hours AND read Implicit Bias impacts patient outcomes. No partial credit will be awarded.
Accreditation
The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider number CEP 1036, {{contactHoursCalc}} contact hours.
Disclosure
Any relevant relationship between an ineligible company and an individual with the ability to influence clinical content will be identified by the Nurse Planner within the activity. Any relevant relationship between an ineligible company and an individual with the ability to influence clinical content has been mitigated.
Accreditation refers to recognition of continuing education only and does not imply AACN, ANCC, or CBRN approval or endorsement of any commercial products discussed or displayed in conjunction with this educational activity.
Activities with pharmacology hours are to assist the APRN in fulfilling the pharmacotherapeutic education requirements for licensure and certification renewals.
Activities meet the standards for most states that require mandatory continuing education for license and/or certification renewal. AACN recommends consulting with your own state board of nursing or credentialing organization before submitting your certificate of completion.
Refund Policy
Continuing Education Activities are nonrefundable.