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Dextrose Solutions Comparison: What, When, and Why Dextrose solutions can be confusing to nursing students because they don’t act like other IV fluids. Normal Saline is isotonic, 3% Saline is hypertonic, and 0.45% Saline is hypotonic. And they all behave in the body exactly as you would expect those types of fluids to act. But Dextrose …
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Solute, Solvent, Solution: An Easy (and Ugly) Explanation Sometimes alliteration (consecutive words that all start with the same sound) can be helpful. Other times, it makes it harder to remember what you’re studying. What about when it comes to solute, solvent, and solution? This is one of those times that alliteration makes things harder. You’ve …
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What is Diffusion? A Colorful Example to Explain (with video) You have to understand diffusion if you want to master Fluids and Electrolytes in nursing school. So let’s start with the basics: What IS diffusion? What is Diffusion? The simplest explanation for diffusion is the movement of molecules from an area of HIGH concentration to an …
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Hypotonic Solution: Clearly Explained for Nursing Students What makes a hypotonic solution…hypotonic? Here’s a clear explanation for HOW and WHY hypertonic IV solutions work so that you can be confident in knowing which situations to use them in during nursing school. If you haven’t already seen the explanation of results from my Osmosis Experiment, make sure to check …
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What is Osmosis? Before we do an osmosis experiment, let’s first understand what osmosis is. Osmosis is the movement of water through a semi-permeable membrane see the . During osmosis, the water moves from an area of low-concentration (i.e. where there’s only a little bit of solute) to an area of high-concentration (i.e. where a lot …
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Hypertonic Solution: An Explanation for Nursing Students I’m going to help you understand WHY and HOW a hypertonic solution works so that you can be confident in knowing which situations to use them in for nursing school. If you haven’t already seen the explanation of results from my Osmosis Experiment, make sure to check that out first. …
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I love seeing that “lightbulb” moment when students realize that they’ve been making the endocrine system a lot harder than it needs to be. Which is why I was so surprised when I realized that I’ve never, ever explained the best way to study Endocrine diseases on this blog. After all, Endocrine is only about the …
“The best time to plant a tree is 20-years ago. The second best time is today.” Chinese Proverb “The best time to study properly is at the beginning of the semester. The second best time is today.” Your Nursing Tutor Proverb We all have regrets. Often, those regrets have to do with something we wish …
I have 3 kids under the age of 5 (update: as of 2016, it’s 4 kids under the age of 7 now…). So when I had the chance to go grocery shopping the other day all by myself, I jumped on it. What a wonderful feeling, gliding lightly through the parking lot, feeling the breeze …
I hate mnemonics. Maybe that’s a little bit extreme, or even inflammatory. After all, you can find entire study books dedicated to nursing mnemonics. Maybe I should say “I Hate Most Mnemonics,” or even “Mnemonics are Not Your Friend.” Whatever. The truth remains that I generally don’t like mnemonics. I’ve seem them misused waaaaay too often by students. And …