Give Me A Beat!

Yo,

Wuz good my people? I hope ya’ll have been blessed and thangs are going good for ya’ll. Ya boy been doing well. I have been crazy busy, but I am doin alright. The hospital has been packed, the family is keeping ya boy occupied, and I been grinding trying to get the new format going. I am going from doing strictly posts, to adding interviews from professionals in the medical field. I will be getting info on how they got into the medical field and what keeps them there. I will also be asking about common issues they deal with and how they are trying to make a positive difference. As usual ya boy is going to keep it hood! We ain’t changin the soul, we just changing the format. I will still be puttin up written posts from time to time tho. Okay, on to the next….

Ya’ll notice that “EKG”or (electro-cardi-ography) pic at the top, so you can probably guess Imma hook ya’ll up with the info about what’s going down when you see these lines. Ya’ll are right, if you know this is a picture of a heart beat! All of the “bumps” and “squiggles” in the picture represent one complete heart beat. The dope thing about the heart, that will always fascinate me, is the fact that it works on electricity! Yo body is like a little electric generator and the heart pumps using that electricity. Check it…

P wave

The first bump ya’ll see noted as the “P Wave” comes from a spot in the heart called the S.A. node or (sino-atrial node). This joint is known as yo hearts “pacemaker”. The SA node gives off an electrical signal and it causes the atria, or top part of the heart, to squeeze pushing blood into the ventricles. So. the P wave is the electrical picture of the top of yo heart squeezing!

QRS complex

The signal sent out by the SA node travels thru the top of the heart and hits a spot near the center called the AV node or (atrio-vent-ric-ular node). The AV node is like a messenger passing an electrical message. The AV node catches the signal and sends it down a passage way called the Bundle of His (pronounced like hiss). Once the bundle gets the signal the bottom of the heart, or ventricles, squeeze pushing the blood out of the heart where it needs to go! The QRS complex is the electrical picture of yo ventricles squeezing.

T wave

The T wave is simple. The T wave is the electrical picture of the bottom of your heart recharging and getting ready for the next heart beat. Some may ask, what happened to the recharge signal from the top of the heart? The answer is when the bottom of the heart squeezes and you see that QRS complex, the recharge of the atria happens during that time, so normally all you see is the QRS complex.

That, in a short summary, is what’s goin down with the heart during a single beat. There is a grip of thangs happenin during a single heart beat and there is far more than what I explained. The body is an amazing thing, and the way it works continues to catch my interest. From fighting off viruses and bacteria like a war machine, to being a generator of electricity powering every heart beat; the body is full of amazing tricks.

Da Story

I work in an area that is dominantly populated by my Caucasian family. This aint a bad thang, it’s just the truth. So, it also gives me the opportunity to put a hammer to a bunch of stereotypes. Anyway, while i was taking care of a patient their heart went into A-Fib or (atrial fibrillation), which means the top part of the heart is just shaking in their chest, not push much blood. Anyhow, the patient was watchin TV and was getting a little excited. As I was about to wrap a blood pressure cuff around the patient’s arm to take the blood pressure, I hear the patient yell out “That cotton picker, he lost the ball!” I immediately stoppped in my tracks and said “excuse me?” I then stated, ” Do you realize what you just said was insanely racist, and also the person who is taking care of you is someone you consider to be a cotton picker.” Now I did consider saying some things to this patient that would have been less that disrespectful, but I held my tongue. I explained to the patient that that type of language is not going to be accepted. The patient quickly apologized and we moved on.

I love my job even when it has hard points. It gives me the opportunity to grow as well as to show others that it can be done…NO MATTER WHAT COLOR YO SKIN IS AND HOW YOU TALK!

I hope this helps to explain thangs a little bit. Ya’ll be blessed and Imma holla at ya’ll soon!

Peace,

The Hood Nurse aka MaddHadda