are fluids and electrolytes really THAT bad?

[TarheelGirlx3]

I always seem to hear horror stories on this topic from nursing students. I'll be learing it in my class in January so I googled some study guides of it and a lot of the basis seems to be ADH and renin angiotensin etc. I did well on this topic in physiology as far as critical thinking questions went..not just memorization. So is it really that difficult??

[gonzalal]

I always seem to hear horror stories on this topic from nursing students. I'll be learing it in my class in January so I googled some study guides of it and a lot of the basis seems to be ADH and renin angiotensin etc. I did well on this topic in physiology as far as critical thinking questions went..not just memorization. So is it really that difficult??

Nope, at all, know all your normal values for Na, Ca, K, Mg, and P , signs and symptoms are almost the same for all so I made a little table with the main differences between them. It's overwhelming at the beginning but you'll get it!

Good luck!

[tsm007]

I found this Hurst sample chapter on F&E really helpful for learning F&E.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

I believe F&E are considered difficult because we must create a new paradigm of thinking. We tend to think of cells and vessels as "boxes" but in fact they are quite fluid. Some things move in and out more freely than others. I never really got it till I bought the F&E for Dummies book. But of course, by then I had been studying it for a while and this book just helped me congeal what I had learned.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

oops. The book is F&E Made Incrediby easy. Sorry

[2k15NurseExtern4u, BSN, RN]

Are there any other "made incredibly easy" book for other nursing topics?

[2k15NurseExtern4u, BSN, RN]

I found this Hurst sample chapter on F&E really helpful for learning F&E.

Thanks for this!

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

Bea40448 - I also have one on nursing documentation. I feel sure you can find other topics.

[2k15NurseExtern4u, BSN, RN]

Bea40448 - I also have one on nursing documentation. I feel sure you can find other topics.

Thanks. I will look into that. I start the BSN program next month and I want all the help I can get.

[Jenngirl34RN]

My instructor did not teach F&E well (she knows the material and has 25 years experience as an ICU nurse before she became a teacher, but she cannot explain the things she knows well at all). Because of that, the people who had a solid grasp on their A&P did just fine, as most of it was review, but those who didn't remember their A&P really struggled.

Like I said, most of F&E should be review from your A&P, with the addition of lab values and nursing considerations (i.e.:what you actually do about F&E imbalances).

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

Are there any other "made incredibly easy" book for other nursing topics?

Yes, there's a whole series of them. They are quite helpful. Check them on Amazon.

[delilas]

It's a million times easier to understand in practice than in the classroom. The classroom tends to be rote memorization of signs/symptoms and normal levels. While thats certainly necessary to some extent, it's not until you've really completed all your pathophys courses and begun to treat patients for these imbalances that it really all comes together.