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It's a common question, and if you're asking yourself if you're too old to go to nursing school, you are not alone. If you are a "non-traditional" student, you actually have a few advantages! Some special challenges that I'll address, for sure, but some definite advantages. If you are struggling with this very life-changing decision to go back to school again or not, I have been there. It's not an easy decision. I spent too much time trying to make up my mind. (We're talking years). Let's save you some time!

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Diabetes is an important topic in nursing school, and a common diagnosis that you’ll help treat in your future patients. 

In this podcast, I talk about the:
Differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

Complications such as Neuropathy, Retinopathy, Peripheral Vascular Disease, and Nephropathy.

How it's diagnosed (Hgb A1C test)

Diabetic medications

Purpose of insulin

Triangle of treatment: Medication, exercise, and diet

Signs and Symptoms of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia

DKA and HHNS conditions

Sick Day Care

Check out Picmonic for a great way to memorize the types of insulins. 
https://www.picmonic.com/viphookup/nursingschoolweekbyweekLGH22

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These are the 8 secrets to success I've learned in my year and a half of nursing school. Success is no accident. It takes hard work, but it helps to hear tips from someone who's gone before you on this journey. 

#1: Take advantage of the Halo Effect

#2: How to choose your study group

#3: Build a strong study system

#4: Reminder notifications

#5: Master assignment list

#6: Study group rules

#7: Strong support system

#8: Prioritize health

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Even as nursing students in clinicals, we see so many patients affected by heart failure. This is definitely a biggie, and one you need to know. Today I'm breaking it down, and hitting the highlights of what you need to know as a nursing student about heart failure.

Picmonic has some great resources to help you remember Heart Failure during test time. Click this link to check out Picmonic for free, or to get 20% off a subscription: https://www.picmonic.com/viphookup/nursingschoolweekbyweekLIK21

So, what is heart failure? Well, it is NOT when the heart stops. That would be cardiac arrest. Heart failure is when the heart isn’t pumping enough blood for your body. And this is either because the heart ventricle isn’t able to fill up all the way, or it’s too weak to pump the blood out once it’s filled up. The main cause of heart failure is hypertension over a long period of time, but it could also be caused by a heart attack that causes part of the heart muscle to die, or a problem with the valves of the heart. There are other causes as well, but you’re probably not gonna be tested on that, so, moving on. 

Alright, so if the heart is not pumping as much blood out, that means what essential thing is not getting to the tissues? That’s right, oxygen. And when there’s not enough oxygen circulating throughout your body, there’s one organ that is gonna notice right away. She’s kind of a spoiled little diva, this one. She’s the kidney. And the kidneys are going to sense this lack of oxygen, but interpret it as low blood pressure. So they’re gonna do what they can to increase the blood pressure. What’s one of the main ways we increase blood pressure? By increasing the blood volume. And if you’ll remember back to your anatomy class, the kidneys increase the blood volume by activating the Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone system and this is gonna make the body retain fluids. The kidneys think they’re helping, but they’re really just making things worse, because now the patient is fluid overloaded. So, when you think of heart failure, that starts with an H and an F. I want you to think “high fluids”. HF, Heart Failure equals “high fluids”. 

There are two types of heart failure you need to know. Left-sided and right-sided. Left-sided is the most common and this happens when there’s something wrong with the left ventricle. And remember, this means either the ventricle isn’t filling up all the way during diastole, or it isn’t getting all the blood out with that systolic contraction. Either way, it means the blood is gonna back up into the lungs. Because think about how the blood flows through the heart. The unoxygenated blood goes into the right side of the heart, then is pumped to the lungs where it exchanges CO2 for yummy oxygen and then it goes to the left side of the heart to be pumped up through the aorta and out to the whole bo

Connect with me on:

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Today I’m sharing with you my insanely effective study system that I use for nursing school. This is a study system that is big on active learning, and NOT passive, time-wasting things. I’m NOT talking about re-reading or re-writing your notes. I’m NOT talking about getting cozy on the couch with your textbook and reading the chapter while highlighting. No. Those are passive learning techniques, and are not the best use of your time. In nursing school, you have precious little time, and you’ve got to make the most of it.

I use 4 resources to study for nursing school, and no, the textbook is NOT one of them. All four are mobile apps and can be used with a laptop or tablet as well.

The 1st is Picmonic.
This app uses pictures and stories to help you remember difficult-to-learn concepts and facts.
Click this link to check out Picmonic for free, or to get 20% off a subscription: https://www.picmonic.com/viphookup/nursingschoolweekbyweekLIK21

The 2nd is Nursing.com.
This one has videos that are about 10 minutes long on just about every subject you’ll cover in nursing school.

The 3rd is the Anki flashcard app.
This app spaces out your flashcards and shows them to you at the perfect time for your brain to remember the information.

The 4th app is any podcast app. 

Connect with me on:

Instagram: @NursingSchoolWeekbyWeek

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Blog: https://www.nursingschoolweekbyweek.com/blog/

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 "There's an app for that!" 
There's an app for everything, and today I’m talking about the top 3 apps you need as a nursing student. I’m about halfway through my nursing school program, and I am telling you - these apps have saved me so much time, and I truly believe they’ve been instrumental in helping me make A’s in my classes.

Follow this link https://www.picmonic.com/viphookup/nursingschoolweekbyweek to check out Picmonic for free or sign up for a subscription with 20% off! Seriously, this is such an awesome resource for nursing students.

Check out Nursing.com for excellent videos and quizes to supplement your education.

Click here to learn more about the Anki flashcard app.

Connect with me on:

Instagram: @NursingSchoolWeekbyWeek

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nursingschoolweekbyweek

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nursingschoolweekbyweek

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nurse-melanie-88085b34a

Blog: https://www.nursingschoolweekbyweek.com/blog/

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Deciding whether or not to work while you go to nursing school can be a difficult decision. Should you focus on studying? Should you get the experience of working? Today we’re talking about 6 reasons why you should work during nursing school, (and one situation where you shouldn’t.) Some people don’t have a choice. They’ve got rent to pay, or other people to support, and they have to work during nursing school just to stay afloat. But, maybe you are lucky enough to be living somewhere rent-free, or you have a partner who’s working, or you’ve planned ahead, and have saved up money so you don’t have to work. So, I’m gonna cover 6 reasons why you should work, one reason why you shouldn’t, and I’ll also share what I decided to do.

Connect with me on:

Instagram: @NursingSchoolWeekbyWeek

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Blog: https://www.nursingschoolweekbyweek.com/blog/

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What do you need to know as a nursing student about Chronic Kidney Disease?

Today I'm going to be talking about chronic kidney disease. 
When a patient has a problem with their kidneys, it can either be an acute problem or a chronic problem. So it could be acute kidney injury which can often be reversed and fixed or it could be chronic kidney disease and that is not reversible. With chronic kidney disease they will eventually need dialysis or a kidney transplant. Chronic kidney disease is an irreversible loss of kidney function that happens slowly over time. It's often called a “silent disease” because it usually presents with no symptoms at first. We can say that a person has chronic kidney disease once their glomerular filtration rate or GFR is less than 60 ml per minute.

Connect with me on:

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Let's talk about Cirrhosis! Learn about the signs and symptoms, the complications, and what you, as the nurse, can do about it.

Over 44,000 people die every year from cirrhosis, so it’s the 9th leading cause of death in the US. Cirrhosis is an incurable form of liver disease that happens slowly due to inflammation and scarring of the liver tissue. When you think of cirrhosis, think of scarring, or “Scarosis”. The main cause is chronic hepatitis C. The other two causes are: drinking too much alcohol, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is when too much fat gets stored in the liver cells, and this can be from obesity or diabetes.

So the liver cells get damaged, they try to fix themselves, but just wind up making scar tissue instead. So instead of having a nice, smooth liver, you’ve got a lumpy mess of a liver with constrictive bands that cut off the flow of blood and bile. Remember bile is made in the liver, and then has to go to the gallbladder to be stored. 

So why do we care so much about the liver? What does it do for us?

Our liver detoxifies alcohol and drugs. It breaks down proteins and carbs, and steroid hormones. It makes blood clotting factors, so if your liver isn’t working, you’re gonna have a decrease in every coagulation factor, except factor 8. The liver makes blood proteins, like Albumin, and if you remember, Albumin is the main protein in your blood, and the main thing regulating your oncotic pressure, or the thing that’s keeping your fluids in your blood vessels, and not seeping out into the tissue. So when the liver isn’t making enough Albumin, we’re gonna see edema and ascites. Ascites is when too much fluid builds up in the peritoneal cavity, causing a big swollen belly. 

A normal liver will store glucose as glycogen for later use, but with an impaired liver, we could see hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia cause the body’s having a hard time regulating the glucose levels. The liver makes bile, and bile absorbs fat and gets rid of bilirubin. Bilirubin is a yellow pigment that’s a byproduct of your old red blood cells getting broken down. A healthy liver will take that bilirubin and put it in your poop with bile to get rid of it. This is what makes your poop brown. So without that bile, your poop is gonna be pale and clay-colored, because you’re not getting rid of the bilirubin pigment, and that bilirubin is gonna keep building up building up and make your skin and the whites of your eyes yellow. 

Connect with me on:

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This week, the most high-yield topic is hyper and hypothyroidism. You’ll see a lot of your test questions coming from this subject.

I’m gonna talk about hyperthyroidism first, and then I’ll cover hypothyroidism.

So, What is hyperthyroidism? It’s when your body makes too much of the thyroid hormones T3 and T4. I’m not sure how much of the A&P you remember from forever ago, so to review how T3 & T4 are made, your hypothalamus in your brain releases Thyroid Releasing Hormone; this makes the Pituitary gland release TSH, or Thyroid Stimulating Hormone, and that makes the thyroid, the little butterfly-shaped gland on your neck, produce T3 and T4.

In both hyper and hypothyroidism, the main causes are autoimmune disorders. The autoimmune disorder that causes hyperthyroidism is called Graves disease. With Graves disease, the patient will have a goiter, or an enlarged thyroid gland, that’s sometimes so big, you can see it from the door of their room. They’ll also have the characteristic bulging eyes, or exophthalmos. This will also be very noticeable, cause it’ll look like they are staring at you in a creepy way, and their eyes are protruding out of the sockets. Usually, our upper eyelids cover the top half of our iris. But in a patient with exophthalmos, you’ll be able to see the white of their eyeball above their iris, below their upper eyelid. So, if the patient has green eyes, you’d be able to see some white between the green and their upper eyelid. Sometimes the exophthalmos will be so bad that they can’t even close their eyelids all the way.

Hypothyroidism is when the thyroid gland doesn’t make enough T3 and T4. So just the opposite of hyperthyroidism. The most common cause is the autoimmune disorder, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. I remember that Hashimoto’s causes hypothyroidism like hypO, HashimOto. Hashimotos is when your body makes antibodies that destroy your thyroid gland, which decreases T3 and T4. This causes the gland to grow bigger to compensate, which creates a goiter. So you can have a goiter with both hyper and hypothyroidism. 

Another cause of hypothyroidism is simply not getting enough iodine in your diet, but this isn’t an issue here in the US, because we put iodine into our salt. 

Also, if someone is getting treated for hyperthyroidism, like they get a thyroidectomy, or radioactive iodine ablation, those can both overcorrect to lead to hypothyroidism. Even if they are just taking antithyroid medication, and they take too much.

Connect with me on:

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