Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Phimosis is a condition in which the foreskin can't be retracted back over the glans. Whereas paraphimosis is the opposite, the foreskin is retracted but can't be moved forward (reduced) to cover the glans.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Torsion of the testis is rotation of a testis, which twists blood vessels in the spermatic cord. It causes an acute scrotum, which is testicular pain and swelling. This event is most common among neonates and pubertal adolescents.

Nurse Meets Newborn | Parents & Advice

With my upcoming baby shower approaching, I decided to talk to my mother. Though we haven't talked in awhile, she provided some really honest advice on raising children. Some parents think they know best. They think their experiences have bought them insight regarding how people "really" work. When in reality, they only know the narrative they have created. They often have no true self-reflections nor have they attempted to see how their actions truly affect the individuals around them. Age doesn't determine intelligence, it's simply the human body aging. Aging with their complexes and flaws as children, it's a cycle. It takes growing up to accept you're not perfect and just maybe, you have some deep-seated issues that need addressing. Because eventually, your children turn into adults and nothing changes the past, not even "I'm sorry." Being a parent doesn't equate to being a healthy person, know the difference.

Nurse Meets Philosophy | Our Choices

"I believe that we are solely responsible for our choices, and we have to accept the consequences of every deed, word, and thought throughout our lifetime." | Elisabeth Kubler-Ross 

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
A urethral stricture is a narrowing of the urethra caused by scarring. The scars may be congenital but are more likely to result from trauma or untreated or severe urethral infections, most often from long-term use of indwelling urinary catheters.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Lack of ovulation, termed anovulation, may result from increased levels of prolactin, decreased levels of gonadotropins, irregular secretion of gonadotropins or abnormally low levels of CNS neurotransmitters (dopamine and GnRH).

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
The clinical manifestations of pheochromocytoma are related to the chronic effects of catecholamine secretion. Hypertension is the most common sign and results from increased peripheral vascular resistance.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Cushing syndrome refers to the complex of clinical manifestations resulting from chronic exposure to excess cortisol. Cushing disease is overproduction of pituitary ACTH by a pituitary adenoma (can occur at any age).

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
The dawn phenomenon is an early morning rise in blood glucose concentration with no hypoglycemia during the night. It is related to nocturnal elevations of growth hormone (GH), which decrease metabolism of glucose by muscle and fat.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 

The somogyi effect is a unique combination of hypoglycemia followed by rebound hyperglycemia. The rise in blood glucose concentration occurs because counter regulatory hormones, which are stimulated by hypoglycemia.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
When the columnar epithelium of the cervix meets the squamous epithelium of the vagina, it is called the transformation zone. This zone is susceptible to oncogenic diseases and this section is sampled during the Papanicolaou test (Pap test).

YouTube Vlog | Nursing Tag (Registered Nurse)

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
The thyroid gland normally produces 90% T₄ and 10% T₃. Once released into the circulation, T₃ and T₄ are primarily transported bound to one of three carrier proteins: thyroxine-binding globulin, thyroxine-binding prealbumin or albumin.

Nurse Meets Newborn | Fetal Non-Stress Testing (NST)

I'm about 30 weeks today and apparently that means I have to do non-stress testing EVERY WEEK now. I looked in my nursing books to find out what this test actually involved. Here is what I found out...

The nonstress testing (NST) identifies whether an increase in the fetal heart rate occurs when the fetus moves, indicating adequate oxygenation, a healthy neural pathway from the fetal central nervous system to the fetal heart and the ability of the fetal heart to respond to stimuli. Fetal heart rate accelerations without fetal movement are also considered a reassuring sign of adequate fetal oxygenation. The advantage of an NST is that it is noninvasive and painless monitoring of the mother or fetus.

Results
Reactive (Expected Outcome) | 2 or more accelerations in 20 minutes
Non Reactive (Abnormal Outcome) | Less than 2 accelerations in a 20-minute period
Accelerations | An increase of at least 15 BPM above the baseline lasting at least 15 seconds

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Glucagon is produced by the alpha cells of the pancreas and by cells lining the gastrointestinal tract. High glucose levels cause glucagon release to be inhibited. Low glucose levels and sympathetic stimulation promote glucagon release. 

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Meningocele is a cystlike dilation of meninges protruding through a defect in the posterior arch of the vertebra. The dura mater may be missing and the arachnoid layer of the meninges bulges beneath the skin.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
A myelomeningocele results in a cystic dilation of meninges and protuberance of various amounts of the spinal cord through the vertebral defect and is associated with more severe complications than those associated with a meningocele.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 

Vomiting, yawning and hiccups are complex reflex-like motor responses that are integrated by neural mechanisms in the lower brainstem. These responses may be produced by compression or diseases involving tissues of the medulla oblongata.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
With locked-in syndrome there is complete paralysis of voluntary muscles with the exception of eye movement. Content of thought and level of arousal are intact but the efferent pathways are disrupted.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Akinetic mutism is characterized by a severe disturbance in behavioral drive (motivation). Generally, these individuals evidence eye opening with visual tracking and have little or no spontaneous speech or following of commands.

Nurse Meets Newborn | Labor & Delivery Bag Purchase

I'm finally formulating a plan for my hospital stay and this includes the infamous labor and delivery bag. This is my first pregnancy and I'm a horrible packer. I pack based on mood, day of the week, how my hair looks, weather and other odd whims. I pack for a week even though, it's a simply weekend getaway. I wanted something large but I wasn't comfortable with dragging around a huge 32" upright piece of luggage. I wanted large but not airport-luggage large. After a week of searching, I found this amazing bag online at Zappos. The Eagle Creek Ease 25" Wheeled Duffel Bag is exactly was I was looking for. It has multiple pockets, durable material and wheels.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Cerebral death is death of the cerebral hemispheres exclusive of the brainstem and cerebellum. Brain damage is permanent and sufficiently severe that the individual is unable to ever respond behaviorally in any significant way to the environment.

YouTube Vlog | How To Format Study Guides

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
In spinal stenosis the spinal canal may be congenitally narrowed or narrowed by a bulging annulus, a facet hypertrophy, or a thick/ossified posterior longitudinal ligament entrapping a single nerve involving many roots.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
Dysmnesia is a disorder of the domain-independent declarative memory network. Dysmnesia is defined as the loss of past memories (retrograde amnesia) coupled with an inability to form new memories (anterograde amnesia).

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
A cerebellar gait manifests as a wide-based gait with the feet apart and often turned outward or inward for greater stability. The pelvis is held stiff, and it seems to be independent of the trunk. The individual staggers when walking.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
A spastic gait is manifested by a shuffling gait with the leg extended and held stiff, causing a scraping over the floor surface. The impaired leg swings around the body rather than an appropriate lifting and placing of the leg on surfaces.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 
A scissors gait is associated with bilateral injury and spasticity. The legs are adducted, causing them to touch each other. As the person walks, the legs are still swung around the body but then cross in front of each other because of adduction.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 

Senile posture is characterized by an increasingly flexed posture similar to that caused by basal ganglion dysfunction. The posture is associated with frontal lobe dysfunction, but the primary pathophysiology is not well described. 

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Fundamentals

Category: Fundamentals 

Diplegia is the paralysis of both upper and lower extremities as a result of cerebral hemisphere injuries. Paraparesis or paraplegia refers to weakness or paralysis, respectively, of the lower extremities.