The topic for this issue’s ECG Challenges column is sick sinus syndrome (SSS), a condition that affects many patients admitted to progressive care and cardiac intensive care units. Some patients with SSS are admitted with syncope or end-stage organ failure; for others, brady arrhythmias are revealed incidentally simply because a patient is placed on cardiac monitoring, creating a need for an evaluation for SSS. The medical diagnosis for this syndrome is complex and involves tying together both electrocardiographic (ECG) signs and physical symptoms. Expert cardiac monitoring and vigilance in patient monitoring are the keys to diagnosis in the hospitalized patient. Acute and critical care nurses are responsible for cardiac monitoring, collaborating with providers, and providing advanced cardiac life support to maintain hemodynamic stability, and thus play a key role in diagnosis and care of the patient with SSS.

It is useful to take a moment to review the terminology of...

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