Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN) Practice Test 2025 – All-In-One Study Guide for Exam Success!

Applying a magnet to an internal cardiac defibrillator is the correct intervention when the device misinterprets a rhythm. This action effectively reprograms the device temporarily, allowing the healthcare provider to manage the situation without the need for more invasive procedures or immediate changes to the patient's condition. The magnet will usually disable the shock feature, preventing unnecessary defibrillation if the device wrongly detects a shockable rhythm. This maneuver is essential for ensuring patient safety and providing the opportunity for further assessment and management of the patient's rhythm.

The other options involve more drastic measures. Immediate surgery is typically not warranted in cases of misinterpretation. Manual cardioverting may be necessary in some contexts, but it is more appropriate for rhythm disturbances that are reliably known to be dangerous and not for scenarios where the defibrillator has misunderstood the rhythm. Restarting the device completely could be impractical and could lead to further misinterpretations while waiting for the device to reboot. Therefore, using a magnet is a safe, quick, and effective approach to managing the misinterpretation of rhythms by an internal cardiac defibrillator.