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Aldosterone causes fluid retention, sodium retention, and excretion of potasium. In addison's disease aldosterone production is decreased. therefore, sodium is not retained and water is not retained, thus high specific gravity of urine because the kidneys do not retain sodium. It is lost in urine. Remember, aldosterone exerts it's effect by using sodium. hope this helps.

Hi Tessa, I understand your angst. I am a huge animal lover, and I really don't agree with using cats (which were probably raised just for this purpose). I don't really like the idea of disecting any animal for this purpose unless they died of natural causes. It is unfortunate that we have to kill animals for learning. I guess the best advice I can give you is to just try and get through it. I know it will be upsetting, but it is just something you will have to overcome. Just try to remember that the cat would be used whether you were there or not. Just try to respect it and be grateful for the learning experience that it provides. It does get easier as you work on it. You really do stop thinking about the fact that it is a cat. I hope all goes well. You can do it.

You can start with reviewing the heart extensively. Go over preload, afterload, and contractility. You will be learning about arrhythmias and how EXACTLY the heart and lungs work together. You will learn how to read EKG's and how the waves correlate with what the heart is doing. You will also need to refresh yourself on ABG's. You should also review fluid and electrolyte balance. You will be looking at what meds to give with each arrhythimas, how to effect change in preload afterload and contractility. One thing to remember: always fix preload FIRST! Many times this is done by giving fluids. In a critical care course, you will learn to look at all body systems and put all the information together to critically evaluate the critical patient. If I were you, I'd get the book early and start reading. Don't study too hard over the break though, we all need breaks or we burn out. If you have been a good studen up to this point, you will probably be fine, just don't get behind once the course starts. Good luck. T

I just had to reapond to the thread about the male student nurse and discrimination. Firstly, as a student in a clinical rotation, you are a guest of the facility and not an employee. Therefore all patients at ANY clinical facility has the right to deny you access. Women would be much less likely to reject a "real" male nurse who walks into the room and says, "hi, Im ----and I'll be your nurse". When the student nurse asks the patient if they are okay with them observing it gives the patient an out, so to speak. It makes it a lot easier to say "no". Secondly, EVERY patient has a right to ask for a different nurse if they want one. Just like they have a right to ask for a different doctor if they want to. They can ask for a different nurse on any basis. If they don't like the nurse because he/she is black, or if he/she is white, or if he/she is just not the right personality. It doesn't matter, when it comes to healthcare, the patient is king. And that's the way it shoule be. We can't dictate to patients what thier values should be. Like it or not, medicine and nursing, are in the service industry. If the patient is not comfortable, for whatever reason, right or wrong, they have the right to ask for someone else.