Heart Failure: Prevalence, Assessment, Prevention

Heart Failure: Prevalence, Assessment, Prevention is organized by RnCeus Interactive.

Course Expiration: This course will be reviewed, revised, or retired on or before 10/16/2025.

Description:
This course includes definitions of heart failure, classification systems for heart failure, assessment of signs and symptoms of heart failure, heart failure risk factors, and their prevention.

Heart failure (HF) definition:
Heart failure is also known as congestive heart failure. Fundamentally it is a condition in which the heart does not pump enough blood to fulfill the needs of the body.

That failure is due to one or both conditions:

• The heart is too weak to pump enough blood – usually due to left ventricular weakness
• The heart cannot fill with enough blood

HF is a complex clinical syndrome that results from any structural or functional impairment of ventricular filling or ejection of blood

• Systolic failure: the heart cannot pump with enough force to eject enough blood into circulation because the left ventricle (LV) has lost its ability to contract forcefully. If the LV ejects less than 40% of its volume the condition is called heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.
• Diastolic failure (also called diastolic dysfunction): the LV loses its ability to relax normally because it is too thick or stiff. The LV may be able to contract forcefully but it cannot relax and stretch to accept enough blood to meet the metabolic needs of the body. If the LV is able to eject 50% of its end-diastolic volume but that volume is insufficient to meet the needs of the body, the condition is known as heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Heart failure can be acute or chronic. Acute heart failure can be an emergency when the heart no longer can pump an adequate amount of blood and oxygen to the point of being life-threatening.

Participant outcomes:
Upon completion of this course, the learner shall be able to:

• Define heart failure
• Compare the three classification systems for HF.
• Identify the prevalence of HF in their individual state.
• Assess patients for risk factors for developing HF.
• Teach patients and family members lifestyle changes to prevent HF.