Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) Test 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

Cardiac output in adults is defined as the amount of blood ejected from the left ventricle each minute. This measure encompasses both the volume of blood pumped with each heartbeat and the number of heartbeats occurring in a minute, reflecting the efficiency and capacity of the heart to deliver oxygen-rich blood to the body’s tissues.

Understanding cardiac output is vital in critical care and emergency contexts, as it indicates how well the heart is functioning and how effectively it is supplying blood to meet the metabolic demands of tissues. An increase or decrease in cardiac output can reveal important information about a patient’s hemodynamic status and can direct clinical interventions.

Other definitions, such as the volume of blood ejected per heartbeat, do not capture the time component necessary to define output over a minute, while diastolic pressure pertains more to the filling phase of the heart rather than its ability to pump blood. Total blood volume relates to the overall blood capacity within the circulatory system rather than the dynamic output of the heart. Thus, selecting the amount of blood ejected from the left ventricle each minute encompasses the broader definition required for cardiac output.