Ace the 2025 CCRP Challenge – Pump Up Your Cardiac Rehab Skills!

The right side of the heart plays a crucial role in pulmonary circulation, which is primarily the function of pumping blood to the lungs. This process is essential for oxygenation of the blood; the right atrium receives deoxygenated blood from the body through the superior and inferior vena cavae. This blood then moves into the right ventricle, which contracts and pumps it through the pulmonary arteries to the lungs. In the lungs, carbon dioxide is exchanged for oxygen, resulting in oxygen-rich blood that returns to the left side of the heart for systemic circulation.

The other functions listed, such as systemic circulation and circulating blood throughout the body, are primarily functions of the left side of the heart, which handles oxygenated blood. Receiving oxygen-rich blood is also a role of the left atrium, where it collects blood from the lungs. Therefore, the main function of the right side of the heart, to pump blood to the lungs for oxygenation, is correctly identified.