Straight A Nursing: Study for nursing school exams & NCLEX

Your patient has low sodium, what should you assess before you react to that sodium value and why? The answer to this trips up a lot of students and new nurses.

You should assess volume status before reacting to a sodium value, because hyponatremia actually breaks down into three different patterns, and each one points to a different cause and a different fix. Hit play on this short episode where I review the three types of hyponatremia, including their causes and fixes.

For a more in-depth dive into the causes, signs & symptoms, and treatments of hyponatremia, listen to episode 17.

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The information, including but not limited to, audio, video, text, and graphics contained on this podcast are for educational purposes only. No content on this podcast is intended to guide nursing practice and does not supersede any individual healthcare provider's scope of practice or any nursing school curriculum. Additionally, no content on this podcast is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

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Picture this: You're a nurse in the PACU and are receiving a patient who is a 34 year old male with a past medical history of obesity and loud snoring reported by his spouse. Although he does not have diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea, you suspect it. He was given general anesthesia with some ketamine mixed in during an elective septoplasty.

Once he gets to the PACU, he has a rapid onset of significant respiratory distress. His SpO2 is dropping even with supplemental oxygen, he has pink frothing sputum, and diffuse crackles bilaterally. What's going on with this guy? How serious is this?

In this episode, I'm breaking down noncardiogenic pulmonary edema, including:

- Pathophysiology and common causes

- Two types of negative-pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE), which is the cause you'll see most often in the OR or PACU

- Who is most at risk for NPPE

- Nursing care for patients with noncardiogenic pulmonary edema using the Straight A Nursing LATTE method which includes common signs and symptoms, priority assessments, key tests utilized to evaluate the condition, treatments, and follow-up education

- A side-by-side breakdown of cardiogenic pulmonary edema vs noncardiogenic pulmonary edema with references to the patient mentioned above and the patient mentioned in episode #515, so you'll walk away knowing exactly how to quickly tell these two conditions apart at the bedside

If you've ever looked at a patient with crackles and hypoxemia and immediately thought "heart failure," this episode is going to change how you approach that assessment.

Episodes mentioned:

#515: Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema

#137: The Basics of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)

To thrive in nursing school, you need a study system that helps concepts like this actually stick, instead of just memorizing lists of symptoms. I get you started building that system in my free Nursing School Survival Blueprint. 👉 Download the Blueprint

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The information, including but not limited to, audio, video, text, and graphics contained on this podcast are for educational purposes only. No content on this podcast is intended to guide nursing practice and does not supersede any individual healthcare provider's scope of practice or any nursing school curriculum. Additionally, no content on this podcast is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Straight A Nursing is a proud member of the Airwave Media Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vasopressors such as norepinephrine and epinephrine intimidate a lot of new nurses. In this episode I'm breaking down norepinephrine and epinephrine, including how they work and are administered, and importantly, how to avoid mixing them up when it counts.

If you're in pharmacology and found this episode helpful, my audio-based program Fast Pharmacology is right up your alley! With over 100 lessons, each 5 minutes or less, you'll master pharm concepts in minutes and gain confidence in clinical. Learn more about Fast Pharmacology⁠.

⁠⁠Nursing School Survival Blueprint⁠⁠ - Just starting school and trying to figure out how to juggle it all? Nursing school gets easier when you have a system to help you identify what to focus on as you study, and to connect the dots so you can see that bigger picture. I get you started building that system in my free Nursing School Survival Blueprint. Follow this free Blueprint and take control of your nursing school experience. I'm cheering for you!

💕Did you love this episode? Please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode!

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The information, including but not limited to, audio, video, text, and graphics contained on this podcast are for educational purposes only. No content on this podcast is intended to guide nursing practice and does not supersede any individual healthcare provider's scope of practice or any nursing school curriculum. Additionally, no content on this podcast is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Straight A Nursing is a proud member of the Airwave Media Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Malignant hyperthermia (MH) is a hypermetabolic crisis that is fatal if left untreated. It occurs in individuals with a specific genetic condition when they are exposed to certain anesthetic gasses or the medication succinylcholine.

By the end of this episode you'll have a thorough understanding of what you need to know about malignant hyperthermia for your nursing school exams and NCLEX, including:

Malignant hyperthermia pathophysiology

Complications of MH

Who is most at risk for experiencing malignant hyperthermia

Signs and symptoms

Important assessments for a patient with malignant hyperthermia

Tests utilized to diagnose and evaluate MH

Treatments for malignant hyperthermia (and why you’ve got to act fast and get help!)

Key patient education

Read the article "Nursing Guide to Malignant Hyperthermia" and view references here.

Episode 173 – Learn more about DIC

Episode 251 – Learn more about rhabdomyolysis

Episode 119 – Learn more about compartment syndrome

Do you need my ⁠⁠Nursing School Survival Blueprint⁠⁠? If you've got the nerves about nursing school, ease them by downloading my Nursing School Survival Blueprint. In it, I walk you through:

🗝️ the key shifts that separate struggling students from thriving ones,

📖 how to study with intention,

🧠 how to reduce cognitive load in real study sessions, and

💡 how to build the kind of understanding that actually shows up on your exams and in clinical.

Take control of your nursing school experience with this free Blueprint as your guide. I'm cheering for you!

This is a throwback to episode 302 of the Straight A Nursing School Podcast, where nursing school help is at your fingertips with hundreds of episodes covering your journey from taking the TEAS through passing NCLEX and having success as a new-grad nurse.

💕Did you love this episode? Please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode!

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The information, including but not limited to, audio, video, text, and graphics contained on this podcast are for educational purposes only. No content on this podcast is intended to guide nursing practice and does not supersede any individual healthcare provider's scope of practice or any nursing school curriculum. Additionally, no content on this podcast is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Straight A Nursing is a proud member of the Airwave Media Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you're applying to nursing school, your GPA probably feels like the whole application. And yes, your GPA is important, but it's only one piece of your application. Most competitive nursing programs are weighing several other factors right alongside your GPA, and the entrance exam is the one that trips up more applicants than you'd expect.

If your school requires you to take the TEAS, I highly recommend investing in test prep materials from ATI. They write the exam so you know your time will be spent studying what's actually on the test.

ATI has a variety of TEAS Prep packages and they offer 15% off to Straight A Nursing fans. Full disclosure that I earn a small commission when you buy TEAS Prep packages from my link and use the coupon code SAN15 at checkout (no extra cost to you, just savings 🙌).

Save 15% on your TEAS Prep package when you use coupon code SAN15 at check out here.*

I dive deeper into the TEAS exam in episode #482: What the TEAS is Really Testing.

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*Promotion cannot be combined with any other offer. Promotion only available on digital ATI TEAS prep products (excluding eBooks), cannot be applied to TEAS testing fees or transcripts. Promotion cannot be applied to past purchases.

The information, including but not limited to, audio, video, text, and graphics contained on this podcast are for educational purposes only. No content on this podcast is intended to guide nursing practice and does not supersede any individual healthcare provider's scope of practice or any nursing school curriculum. Additionally, no content on this podcast is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Straight A Nursing is a proud member of the Airwave Media Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices