You are a travel nurse, or a nursing student and it is hard for you to remember the 12 steps of blood flow through the heart. Worry no more as we have a fun way for you to remember it. The mnemonics are here for the rescue. But before we dive into it lets first understand the role and order of blood flow through the heart.
What is the role of the blood flow through the heart and body?
The circulatory system plays an important part in maintaining homeostasis and supporting the function of organs and tissues. The circulatory system, also known as cardiovascular system, consists of heart, blood vessels and blood. The role is to ensure that nutrients, oxygen, and waste products efficiently transported throughout the body.
12 steps of blood flow through heart
There are 12 steps of blood flow through the heart that start from right atrium and end with aorta. The 12 steps to remember the blood flow through heart are as follows:
Right side of the heart
- Superior and Inferior Vena Cava (SVC and IVC): through the large veins the deoxygenated blood enters the heart.
- Right Atrium: the blood then enters the right atrium of the heart.
- Tricuspid Valve: This separated the right atrium from the right ventricle. The blood passes through the tricuspid valve and it also prevents the back flow of the blood into the right atrium.
- Right Ventricle: The deoxygenated blood enters the right ventricle.
- Pulmonary Valve: From the right ventricle the blood passes into the pulmonary artery.
- Pulmonary Artery: now the pulmonary artery carries the deoxygenated blood to the lungs for oxygenation.
- Blood travels through the lungs where it is oxygenated.
Left side of the heart
- Pulmonary Veins: The blood is oxygenated, and it travels to heart through pulmonary veins.
- Left Atrium: From pulmonary veins the blood enters the left atrium.
- Bicuspid (Mitral) Valve: The oxygenated blood enters the left ventricle passing through the bicuspid valve also called the mitral valve.
- Left Ventricle: The left ventricle is the thickest chamber that pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.
- Aortic Valve: From left ventricle the blood pumps through aortic valve into the aorta.
- Aorta: It is the largest artery that carries oxygenated blood to all parts of the body.
Mnemonics to remember 12 steps of blood flow through the heart
Mnemonics to remember the order of the valves:
“Try Pulling My Aorta”
- Tricuspid Valve
- Pulmonary Valve
- Mitral Valve
- Aortic Valve
Tips to remember:
- The right side take the blood “right” to the lungs and on the left side the blood “left” the lungs.
- “First always Try, before you Buy.” With this phrase you will remember that tricuspid (try) is before the bicuspid (buy) valve as many nurses might get confused that blood enters which valve first.
- One more tip to remember is that the Atrium is above the Ventricles as the letter A comes first then the letter V.
Conclusion
It is important for every healthcare provider to understand the 12 steps of blood flow through heart. But sometimes it becomes difficult to remember all this. To make it easy we came up with a fun way to remember the blood flow through heart (mnemonic). Mnemonics such as, Try Pulling My Aorta which will help you remember the order of the valves.
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