Assignment task:
Prioritize the following patient in order of care with a short explanation as to why:
1. George Stanley - 70-year-old male who is 5 days post-op coronary bypass surgery x 5. Pacing wires were discontinued 4 hours ago with no problems noted at this time. Patient is ambulating without O2 and has no cardiac arrhythmias. Patient still requiring oral pain medication every 6 hours. Discharge teaching is needed. Patient to be discharged in the morning.
2. John Richards - 62-year-old male who presented to the ER 22 hours ago with an ST elevated MI. Patient has had 2 coronary stents placed. Arterial femoral line is still in place and needs to be removed within the next 2 hours. IV nitro has been discontinued and patient is not complaining of any chest pain.
3. Violet Smith - 40-year-old female admitted 3 hours ago with cardiac arrhythmias due to possible cocaine and alcohol consumption. Patient is currently stable with no signs of cardiac arrhythmias. Vital signs and patient assessment are every 30 minutes for the next 4 hours and then every hour for the next 24 hours.
4. Diane Johnson - 65-year-old female who received a coronary angiogram 12 hours ago. No coronary coronary artery disease was noted. Patient has had femoral lines removed and has ambulated once. She still needs to ambulate one more time this evening. Discharge teaching has been completed but the patient has had multiple questions relating to heart disease. Patient is to be discharged in the morning.
5. William Bowers - 72-year-old diabetic male. Patient presented to the ER by private vehicle 8 hours ago complaining of 7/10 chest pain and difficulty breathing. O2 and IV nitro is running. Patient currently has had no ST elevation and rates his pain 2/10. Morphine IV push has been ordered. Bedrest has been ordered until coronary angiogram in the morning. Patient teaching for angiogram needs to be completed.