Hcr 240 Pathophysiology

The key to patho is you can't just memorize the material, you have to understand it. If you just try to memorize long lists of information, you're not doing anyone - yourself or your future patients - any good. For example, when trying to remember the signs of hypovolemic shock, you can memorize a laundry list of symptoms that you may or may not remember. The better way is to understand what happens with the disease process to begin with. So, for example, in hypovolemic shock, a large part of the blood volume is lost. So what is going to happen to the heart with less blood to pump? It's going to have to work harder to deliver oxygen, so the heart rate increases. Likewise, respiration is going to increase because the body is working harder with less red blood cells to deliver oxygen. The pulse is going to be thready because less blood is running through the veins, which will also cause skin pallor. With less blood to the brain, you're going to see altered or loss consciousness...etc, etc, etc.

The point is, if you understand the HOW and WHY of a disease process, you'll automatically know what the symptoms are, why they occur, and the basics of how to treat them without having to memorize a ton of information, and you'll also be a better nurse for knowing how to critically analyze what's going on with your patients in a moment's notice.

Good luck!

^

Good information!!

I agree with everything said so far. Knowing the process will help in this class, and especially for nursing. So much of nursing school is applying concepts to real life situations and exams, that memorizing data simply isn't enough.

I would learn a subject/disease and then explain it to anyone who would listen, even if it was my dog. Simply explaining it out loud helps cement it in your mind.