Advanced Patient Assessment Practice Exam

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What is the heart rate if the RR interval is five large boxes apart?

60 BPM
120 BPM
90 BPM
40 BPM

The correct answer is: 60 BPM

The heart rate can be calculated using the RR interval, which represents the time between heartbeats on an electrocardiogram (ECG). The standard method for estimating heart rate from an RR interval is to determine how many large boxes (each representing 0.2 seconds) the interval spans. In this case, if the RR interval is five large boxes apart, we can calculate the duration as follows: each large box is 0.2 seconds, so five large boxes total 5 x 0.2 seconds, which equals 1 second. The heart rate is then determined by the formula: Heart Rate (BPM) = 60 seconds / RR interval (in seconds) Substituting the RR interval into the formula, we get: Heart Rate = 60 seconds / 1 second = 60 BPM. This calculation shows why the heart rate is 60 BPM when there are five large boxes between the R waves on an ECG. It indicates that there is one heartbeat occurring every second.