Heeeelp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kiwi08]

I'm writing an essay and im REEEAAALLYYY struggling with my intro. I basically need to sum up why nursing is related to elements (oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, and carbon) and why they need to study chemistry.

PLEASEEE HELP!!

[AggieNurse99, BSN, RN]

Mabye think a little differently. Basic chem never clicked for me until I had biochem/genetics/nutritional biochem. The study of chemistry and its principles applies to every facet of daily life when you 'break it down'. Digestion = catabolic process breaking down food into smaller molecules: amino acid chains, free fatty acids, simple sugars, simple carbs. Absorption = taking these across the intestinal mucosa. Even think pharmacology. Why should a nurse understand fluids- tonicity vs. osmolarity vs. osmolality? Diffusion vs. osmosis? Yeah, it can be a pain plotting the electron orbitals of atoms. If you hang 40mEq K+ what are you doing? How does K+ affect more than just the heart or skeletal muscles, are those the only cells with a Na-K pump? It could be something as practical as being able to explain what a trans fat is (as opposed to cis fatty acids? and what hydrogenated fats are) when your patient asks. At some point Chem really does click and make practical sense.

Now physics, on the other hand, is still something I don't get.

[NeosynephRN]

Nursing is one of the many careers in which chemistry is vitally important. Chemistry examines the properties and composition of matter and the interactions between substances. The human body itself contains substances called elements. These elements are what makes up the entire physical structure of a human organism. The human body contains 26 different elements. Of these elements, only 6 make up 99% of the human body mass. The 6 main elements in the body are Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Calcium, and Phosphorus. Understanding how these elements function within the human body is necessary in the nursing career because nurses deal with these elements on a day to day basis with every patient and they analyze what kinds of medications are needed to prescribe and how many dosages patients require.

BETTER?

Careful here because unless you are an NP you will not be prescribing anyone anything or figuring out dosages...sure you will want to have an idea of what your patients will likely need. I agree to write the body of the paper and then come back to the intro.