NURSING MNEMONICS, Study notes of Nursing

Download NURSING MNEMONICS and more Study notes Nursing in PDF only on Docsity!

NURSING

KNEMONICS

100 + Memory Tricks to Crush the Nursing School

Trigger Your Nursing Memory

Maria Youtman MSN BSN RN

For More Nursing Resources Checkout here:

Contents

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION

Nursing Health Assessment Mnemonics

Isolation / Precautions Mnemonics

Cardiovascular Nursing Mnemonics

Pharmacology Nursing Mnemonics & Tips

Maternal and Child Health Nursing Mnemonics & Tips

Anaesthesia Nursing Mnemonics

Behavioral science Psychiatric Nursing Mnemonics

Endocrine Nursing Knemonics

Anatomy Mnemonics

Miscellaneous

One last thing

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Maria Youtman MSN BSN RN

Words are very powerful. They can either inspire you to greatness or make you feel like crap. This is why it’s best to choose the words you hear and the principles you believe. After all, we are all given a choice ever day: to wallow in self-pity or push ourselves to achieve great things despite our imperfections.

“Maria Youtman, MSN, BSN, RN, earned her bachelor of science degree from Penn University, and her Master of Science in Nursing from Johns Hopkins University. She has 10 years of nursing experience and 6 years of experience as a clinical nurse specialist. For the past Three years, she’s overseen nursing care in writing medical articles, books, and more.”

Maria had a three years of private clinical education and writing through various websites, she intended to move on one step to have a web community source, whatever she inspired, write, and edit, one place can gather all the efforts made.

Nurses are no exception. One’s success in the nursing profession is not determined by how much theoretical knowledge a nurse possesses, but how resilient you are to apply everything you’ve learned–and that includes the principle of caring.

TERMINAL OBJECTIVES:

Mnemonics are popular study aids to help trigger your memory of a group of things. It is similar to memorizing a phone number. Instead of memorizing each individual number – you remember a group of 3 numerals (area code), 3 numbers and a group of 4 numbers. This is called “chunking”. When one thinks of a mnemonic, you usually think of a list of vertical letters that spell a word with words going off the stem horizontally.

For example: What you should quickly do with an acute myocardial infarction (MI/heart attack)? M – morphine sulfate O – oxygen N – nitroglycerine A – ASA (acetylsalicyclic acid)

In this instance, remembering the word “ MONA ” = MI, can help you remember all the nursing actions one should anticipate.

Mnemonics are not always words however. They can really be any words, pictures, diagrams, lyrics/songs, a rhyme, or something that forms a relationship to help you remember.

Sometimes even the process of creating or thinking up a mnemonic can help you learn the underlying concept. My brain often likes to draw diagrams or models. Flowcharts or hierarchies can help me understand how things work together.

Personally, mnemonics to me have been helpful for some concepts but not all. I don’t really learn well with tons of mnemonics; I just have a couple for things that are really hard for me to remember.

Sometimes it seems like it is just as much work to learn the mnemonic as it would be just to memorize the information.

That is why the actual process of trying to think of a drawing, picture, diagram, or acronym can actually be more useful than just using someone else’s mnemonic.

Recognize The Following Example:

The American Cancer Society uses “ CAUTION” to describe cancer warning signs:

C – change in bowel or bladder habits A – a sore that does not heal U – unusual bleeding or discharge T – thickening or lump I – indigestion or difficulty swallowing O – obvious change in size of a wart or mole N – nagging cough or hoarseness

What are depressant drugs?

“Bats“ Barbiturates, Alcohol, and Tranquilizers

You can draw a picture of a limp bat to help you remember this one…

SOAP Note S – Subjective O – Objective A – Assessment P – Plan

There are even now some diagnoses that are acronyms/mnemonics. An example is “HELLP Syndrome” which stands for H emolysis, E levated L iver enzymes and L ow P latelets or HELLP. HELLP syndrome is a life-threatening obstetric complication considered to be a complication of pre-eclampsia. The only treatment is delivery of the baby.

Mnemonics can even be how you take notes. Most people think of notes as an outline where you try to scribble as fast as the teacher talks. However, you can take notes a couple of different ways that can help you remember the information, rather than writing down all the words.

A A lert

V R esponse to Verbal Stimuli

P Response to P ain

U U nresponsive

Nursing Health Assessment Mnemonics

Level of Consciousness Assessment: “AVPU”

The AVPU scale is a system where you can measure and record a patient’s responsiveness to indicate their level of consciousness. It is a simplification of the Glasgow Coma Scale, which assesses a patient response in three measures: eyes, voice, and motor skills. The AVPU scale should be assessed during these three identifiable traits, looking for the best response for each. It has four possible outcomes for recording and the nurse should always work from best (A) to worst (U) to avoid unnecessary tests on patients who are clearly conscious. On the other hand, it should not be used for long-term follow up of neurological status.

Have you heard, "The patient is unconscious, breathing, and talking" and thought?"

Have you ever yelled, "DUDE, wake up!" to an intoxicated patient (or friend) and they raised their eyes, looked at you, or somehow responded to your voice? They are responding to a verbal stimulus.

If the patient responds, "Why are you yelling at me?" the patient is 'A.'

A patient that is 'V' cannot be alert, answer history questions, or describe their chief complaint. Interpreting a pain stimulus

If the patient doesn't respond to a verbal stimulus attempt a pain stimulus with a pinch, squeeze or sternum rub.

A sternum rub is the application of painful stimulus with the knuckles of closed fist to the center chest of a patient who is not alert and does not respond to verbal stimuli. The sternum rub is the most common painful stimulus practiced in the field by EMTs and paramedics. However, it is possible to misinterpret the patient’s response to the stimuli depending on the duration the pressure is applied.

S S ymptoms

A A llergy

M Medications

P Past Medical History

L Last Oral Intake

E Events leading up to the illness or injury

Health History Assessment: “SAMPLE”

In general, do not obtain a detailed history until life-threatening injuries have been identified and therapy has been initiated. The secondary survey is essentially a head-to-toe assessment of progress, vital signs, etc. SAMPLE is often useful as a mnemonic for remembering key elements of the patient’s health history.

S : Symptoms: Patient chief complain. Question to ask: what’s wrong? What brought you to the hospital?

A: Allergy : Seeking to know what type of allergic reaction they experience. Question to ask: Do you have allergy to anything? What happens to you when you use something you are allergic to?

D Deformities C Contusions A Abrasions P Punctures or Penetrations B Burn T Tenderness L Lacerations S Swelling

Rapid Trauma Assessment: “DCAP-BTLS”

DCAP-BTLS is a mnemonic to remember specific soft tissue injuries to look for during assessment of a person after a traumatic injury.

D: Deformities Malformations or distortions of the body.

C: Contusions Injury to tissues with skin discoloration and without breakage of skin; also called a bruise.

A: Abrasions Scrape caused by rubbing from a sharp object resulting in surface denuded of skin.

P: Punctures or Penetrations Wound with relatively small opening compared with the depth; produced by a narrow pointed object.

B: Burns Burns are injuries to tissues caused by heat, friction, electricity, radiation, or chemicals.

T: Tenderness The condition of being tender or sore to the touch.

L: Lacerations A torn or jagged wound caused by blunt trauma; incorrectly used when describing a cut.

S: Swelling Sign of inflammation; caused by the exudation of fluid from the capillary vessels into the tissue.