A nurse is caring for a client with increased cardiac afterload. Which finding should the nurse expect?

• A. Increase in blood pressure.
• B. Increase in respiratory rate.
• C. Decrease in cardiac output.
• D. Decrease in preload.

Answer: (A)

Increased afterload means the heart must pump against higher resistance to push blood into the arteries. To overcome that resistance, the ventricle generates greater systolic pressure, which raises the pressure in the arterial system. So the most expected finding is an increase in blood pressure. Respiratory rate is not a direct indicator of afterload, and preload is about filling, not the resistance the heart must push against. While sustained high afterload can eventually reduce cardiac output if the heart can’t compensate, the immediate and direct change you’d see is higher arterial pressure.