[charlieroe]

Hello, I'm new to the world of ITU nursing, in fact i've just finished my 5th shift and am really struggling with understanding ABG's. Can anyone help explain what it all means, please keep it simple

[hrtprncss]

hi there's alot of threads about ABG's if you'd do a search, but here's one link...I'm sure it will help you... http://realnurseed.com/abg.htm scroll down to "Land of ABG's"...hope it helps

[charlieroe]

Thanx for that link, it's fantastic, really easy to understand!

[dorimar]

Just remember that CO2 is acid and bicarb is base. CO2 is respiratory and bicarb is metabloic. If they're acidotic, is the CO2 high, or the bicarb low? if they're alkalotic, is the CO2 low or the bicarb high? If they're acidotic, & CO2 is high , it is respiratory acidosis. if they're acidotic and the bicarb is low, then it is metabolic acidosis. If they're alkalotic and the CO2 is low, then it's respiratroy alkalosis. If they're alkalotic and the HCO3 (bicarb) is high, then its metabloic alkalosis. they can be both respiratory & metabolic acidosis, or respiratory and metabloic alkalosis as well. If the pH is heading to nromal or normal with abnomral CO2 or HCO3 then it is compensated.

Reading this, it sounds as confusing as nursing school makes it. Sorry. It's really simple. Just determine if the'yre acidotic or alkalotic, and then to determine what is causing that, look at the PCo2 and HCO3. PCO2 is respiratory cause. HCO3 is metabolic cause.

[JentheRN05]

http://www.the-abg-site.com/

[truern]

CharlieRoe, a great online ABG tutorial:

http://www.maagnursing.com/ABG/index.php

and this site is very helpful:

http://www.the-abg-site.com/

There was also a great thread on allnurses in the last few weeks....you can search for that one

At www.Ed4Nurses.com they have "6 Easy Steps to ABG Analysis" that was GREAT, but you have to pay to download it. I can't remember offhand what I paid??

Edited to add: Hi, Jen!! You beat me to it

[Tiny1Nisolet]

Originally Posted by hrtprncss

hi there's alot of threads about ABG's if you'd do a search, but here's one link...I'm sure it will help you... http://realnurseed.com/abg.htm scroll down to "Land of ABG's"...hope it helps

Any suggestions on how to pull this up. I got it this a.m. but I can not get it to load now. I wanted to go over it some more. I thought it was great.

[zi7027]

thanks for the link to land of ABGs. It has really helped me as a nursing student get a grip of this difficult topic.

[meandragonbrett]

Check out "Vents and ABGs" at www.icufaqs.org

[truthtutor]

hi the abg site is a very good site, esp. enjoyed case studies, it informative and very helpful to provide case senarios. ABG's/compensation can be difficult to understand if you are not reguarly working in a critical care setting.
thanks