Dual-chamber pacing

Dual-chamber pacing has been available since the early 1980s, yet it is a topic with which critical care nurses consistently have difficulty. New advances in pacemaker technology have built on the principles inherent in dual-chamber pacing, making it imperative that practitioners have a basic understanding of dual-chamber pacemaker function. With dwindling clinical resources, the responsibility of the bedside nurse to evaluate appropriate pacemaker function and identify the patient's response to pacemaker therapy has increased.