Heart failure and treatment: part II. Perianesthesia management.

Heart failure is a clinical syndrome not limited to age or ethnicity. Patients with heart failure, compensated and uncompensated, may present for emergency or planned surgery. Patient outcomes depend on the knowledge and nursing care of the perianesthesia nurse. An understanding of the types of heart failure, etiology, pathophysiology, hemodynamic factors, and treatment will assist the nurse in making decisions that will affect the clinical course. Evidence-based practice will facilitate the perianesthesia nurse in reducing morbidity and mortality in this patient population.