Hey guys, Nurse Mike here and welcome to SimpleNursing.com. Now before we get today's lecture started, please remember to access your free quiz and preview our cool nifty new study guides not here on YouTube. Click the link right up here at any time during this video.
All right guys, let's begin. Hey guys, Mike Linares here and welcome to SimpleNursing.com. Today we're talking about electrolytes or electric lights. Electrolytes are found in the.
fluids and they light up your body with this electric energy. So I call them the underwater electric disco dance party of the body. Because please remember this one token of information. Where fluids flow, electrolytes go! Electrolytes are ions that are found in your body fluids.
They help to conduct electricity and energy which helps control body fluids and maintain homeostasis, this balance of the body. Basically they help the body send messages from cell to cell, nerve to nerve, and organ to organ. Kinda like little paper boys relaying vital messages all over the body.
So without them your body, your brain, and basically your life would cease to function. So today we'll be going over three things. First of all, what disrupts electrolyte function? Secondly, which foods have the most electrolytes?
Something that's like all that applies to the body. And also, third, electrolyte values and priorities. Laboratory values that you will be tested on, like, for sure. Also, priority signs and symptoms, nursing assessments, as well as those crucial nursing interventions.
Basically, everything that you should have highlighted in your book. So I'm taking the guesswork out of it and highlighting the book for you. We're only covering the most important things that love to show up on nursing exams. So, I'm going to take a look at the next slide.
and ultimately the end-club. Now as mentioned before, electrolytes help you pass electricity to the brain and to the nerves, but mainly used in our skeletal muscles, helping them to squeeze and contract from the muscles in the heart to the muscles in our deep tendons, even to the muscles in your intestinal tract, also known as your GI tract. Now if you ever played sports or even talked to a personal trainer at the gym, you probably heard something about electrolytes. Even a coach has probably told you, you gotta drink your Gatorade to increase electrolytes.
And even team moms will give out oranges at baseball games to increase electrolytes. And this whole time you've probably been thinking, what the heck are electrolytes? Well, electrolytes again are found mainly in the fluids of your body. Because wherever fluids flow, well, electrolytes go!
And since your body is around 60 to 70% water, well, your electrolytes play a key role in making sure your body is moving and grooving smoothly. Therefore, it is vital to keep these electrolytes in balance. Now, we have two terms for balance in medical terminology, therapeutic range and homeostasis. So guys, let's break this down. Therapeutic range is the range of concentration at which a drug is most effective with least toxic effect to the patient.
So when a nurse gives K-Riders, or basically potassium, as IV piggyback, It's technically a medication that needs to bring the body back into that normal range, that therapeutic range. Our second term is homeostasis, the state of equilibrium or balance that is maintained by a self-regulating process in the body. Or in other words, it's the teeter-totter balancing act that your body does every single minute of every single day to make sure you're in balance. Woo! That sounds like a lot of hard work.
The electrolytes are doing a great job. So I just want to say from the bottom of my myocardium, thank you electrolytes. Okay, now that we've learned a little bit about what electrolytes do and how your body loves to keep them in that narrow range of balance called homeostasis, let's introduce our six most famous electrolytes, like movie stars down a red carpet or, in this case, a red blood vessel. Actually, we have a correspondent in the field.
Magic Mike, are you with us? Yes, Michael, we're here at the red carpet known as the red blood vessel, and oh boy, it's a busy one. We're all here just anxiously waiting and anticipating the presence of the annoying electrolytes. And oh my gosh, here they come. First on the list is King Potassium at 3.5 to 5.0 microequivalents per liter.
He's the king of action and contraction, especially in the heart and skeletal muscles, keeping each muscle cell charged or basically polarized via the sodium potassium pump. His slogan is, I'm the king of action and contraction, baby. He's obtained through your diet via fruits and green leafy vegetables, absorbed in the testin and excreted out of the body and into the body via the bowels and the kidneys.
He is one cool cat eye. King Potassium. And up next is Miss Salty Sodium, ranging from 136 to 145. Floated beyond belief, always followed around by the water paparazzi because where sodium goes, fluid flows.
Now she is also a major cation in the extracellular fluid, that fluid outside the cell, obtained in the diet. usually through salty snacks like canned food, processed meats, fast food, or basically anything a nursing student would eat. Let's be honest. You know it's true.
Absorbed in the small intestine, excreted by the kidneys, her slogan is, I'm a leader. They're never a follower. Loaded is the new black.
Be true to your salt. Salt happens. But first, let me take a salty.
Sodium's two main job functions are to maintain blood volume as well as blood pressure. And also to keep pH balances. She's kind of a big deal.
Sodium's regulated by the ADH hormone, antidiuretic hormone, also known as ADH2O, because it holds water in the body. And aldosterone hormone, we call aldosterone. Das Tyrone, the security bouncer in the kidneys, holds onto fluid by basically holding salt back.
And lastly, she works very closely with potassium in the sodium-potassium pump, which helps energize every cell in your body and also buffers out acid base and balance. Now that was kind of quick. We go into full detail in the full videos at simplenursing.com, so please don't worry. Miss Salty Sodium, Salty Sodium, over here, please, please. We have some questions about your recent takeover.
of the Cup O'Noodle Soup Corporation, what is your relationship with Mr. King Potassium? Sources tell us sodium and king potassium are deeply involved in what is known as the sodium potassium pump affair. Up next is Mr. Law and Order himself, Magnum Magnesium, weighing in at 1.3 to 2.1. He's the new sheriff in town, Big Magnum Magnesium, here to keep law and order in the muscles of your body.
Without mag we have complete chaos, complete disorder, so obviously his slogan is, there's a new sheriff in town. Do you feel lucky punk? Well, do ya? Obtained through the diet via the spinach, almonds and yogurt, absorbed in the small intestine and excreted by the kidneys once again. He's a man with many jobs, but his main job function is to keep law and order in the muscles via protein synthesis, nerve function as well as blood sugar control.
Now magnesium loves to flirt or stimulate the parathyroid hormone which regulates calcium levels inside the cell. So obviously his BFF, best friend forever, is Mr. Calcium. Hence he is required for calcium and vitamin D. Vitamin D absorption, which fights tooth decay on the daily by binding calcium to that tooth enamel. You mean right here or right here?
I love you, Mag. Up next is the cocky jerk himself. Cocky calcium from Muscle Beach, California, weighing in at 9.0 to 10.5.
He's the most abundant cation in the human body. 99% found in bones, his slogan is, I'm back here to the bone, brother. He's obtained through the diet from fruits and veggies, almonds, vitamins and dairy products but mainly green leafy vegetables.
Absorbed in the small intestine, excreted by the kidneys. Now sources tell us he has a love affair with vitamin D. Some sort of absorption web of lust and lies. Now since he's a strong dude, obviously his main job function is to make things strong.
So guys remember the three B's. Strong bones, strong blood and strong beats. Strong blood from facilitating blood clotting and strong beats in the heart.
Anyways he helps build job functions for his best bud. BFF forever, magnum magnesium. Often when magnesium is low, calcium fills in for his best buds absence as treatment of choice.
Man, what a good friend, filling in for his best bud when he's away. Lastly, he is regulated by the three hormones in the endocrine system. The PTH, parathyroid hormone, which increases calcium concentration in the blood. The calcitonin hormone, which does the opposite and decreases that blood calcium by putting a ton of calcium into the blood.
Get it? Like... Calcitonin, a ton into the bone. And third one, calcitrol, which controls the release of calcitonin. Basically, it reverses that ton of calcium in the bone and releases it back into the blood.
And up next, wait, could it be? Oh dear, it's cocky calcium's worst enemy, friendly frat boy phosphate! At 3.0 to 4.5, he's calcium's worst enemy.
Now, calcium's always ripping on this guy, bullin'friendly phosphate because he's so darn friendly. They are complete opposite and always work inversely. So whenever calcium's high, well, phosphate is low. And vice versa.
They don't get along, like, at all. And I think, honestly, because it's like, cocky calcium's all wrapped up in himself being like a big jerk, and phosphate's all like, by Felicia, absorbed in the small intestine and excreted by the kidneys, phosphate's main function is to help bones and teeth formation and repair cell tissues. Lastly, phosphate is regulated by the same things that regulate calcium.
So. So the PTH, parathyroid hormone, which controls calcium. Remember, calcium and phosphate work inversely.
So if one's high, well, the other one's low. Last but not least on our list is Miss Four-Eyed Chloride, leveling in at 98 to 106. She's Miss Salty Sodium's forgotten sister named Chloride. Now, everyone calls her Four-Eyed Chloride because she's a super nerd, always behind the scenes and always going unnoticed, kind of like a ghost.
She's always following around her super salty. sister star and always in her shadow secretly gently of all her superstar status. Almost like the drama a reality TV show family would have.
What was their name? It's that famous family's name, you know, like was it, okay, Bardashian, Sardashian, Clardashian, Osbournes, that's what it was. She's obtained through the diet in the same places that salt is because obviously she follows her big sister around. So guys, seaweed, sea salt, table salt and tomato. Potatoes and olives are basically anything that's processed.
Absorbed in the small intestine and excreted from the body into the body via the kidneys, chloride's main function is to help her sister, salty sodium. So chloride functions in a very similar way sodium does, maintaining the blood volume, blood pressure, and the pH balance of your fluid. Alright guys, that wraps it up here for Magic Mike. Michael, back to you in the studio.
Okay, now that we know all the electrolytes and their values, how are we gonna memorize all these ba- Well, let me show you a little trick in this next little segment I call the memorization trick for electrolyte values. But caution about these values. Hospitals will differ from their ranges and even textbooks and workbooks will sometimes differ.
But these values listed here in this video have been taken and verified by over 12 textbooks and referenced from accredited nursing school curriculum. So put that in your brain and test it. But be cautious, if by chance the textbook that your school is using uses a different set of numbers than listed here in this video, then guys, use your textbook and use your school's values just to be safe for your exam.
Now for your next test and ultimately the NCLEX, you must know these electrolyte values. And there's no other way of really getting around it but to memorize it, kind of like a phone number. So here's a little trick that's helped over 400,000 nursing students just like you pass their tests from years past.
I call it our check-in and check-out method. So step number one is you write out these values at least 10 times before you study. This is called the check-in method.
Then guys, you write them out 10 times again after you study for the day. That's the check-out. It literally takes 5 to 10 minutes and trust me, when you get to your test, or the NCLEX.
You're gonna thank me that you did this. So once again guys, 10 times before you study for that day and then 10 times write these values out after you study for the day. A total of 20 times every single day you study that week before your electrolyte test. Because ultimately you must know these values like the back of your hand.
Hey, wait a minute, when did I get that mole there? Okay now, let's get a little deeper into your electrolyte and what influences the balance of them. This is what instructors and the NCLEX will expect you to know.
So trust me, it's very important. Okay, now that we covered our memorization tricks for electrolytes, let's go over all the most important food sources, something that select all that apply questions love to ask. Now, one thing nursing students forget all the time is that you can only get electrolytes from sources outside the body. So your body cannot create. or produce any electrolytes naturally.
We have to either eat them down in the original source, like fruits or veggies, and others, or drink them down like Pedialyte, Gatorade, or coconut water. Which are very popular electrolyte drinks. Or IV pump them in like with normal saline, potassium chloride, and even lactated ringers which has electrolytes.
But caution, except for salty sodium because that's really mainly found in like canned foods and processed meats or cheeses and fast foods or basically anything a normal nursing student would eat. Wait wait, so how exactly does sodium enter the body? I don't know, this electrolyte stuff's confusing. Okay, now let's get into specific electrolyte-rich foods. Now, first of all, potassium.
Everyone always thinks bananas are the most potassium-rich food. But avocados and a big one, green leafy vegetables like spinach, which is a huge keyword for the NCLEX, that green leafy veggie. For some reason, guys, this always has the most electrolytes.
Mainly potassium, and also it has vitamin K, which is a blood clotter. But for some reason the NCLEX and select all that apply questions love to ask these questions. Questions like, which food would you give to your hypokalemia patients? Or basically your low potassium patients.
And then it says, select all that apply. Now guys, the key word is usually green leafy or some type of fruit. Next is sodium from salty snacks like canned foods, processed meats or processed cheeses and even fast foods. Lots of foods have salt guys, nearly everything on the shelves or that are in a package has a lot of sodium.
It's really not hard to obtain, it's actually harder to avoid. Next is magnesium, obtained from spinach, almonds, yogurt, and again with those green leafy veggies. Next is calcium and green leafy veggies again. Also almonds and oranges, dairy products like cheeses and yogurt, but guys, calcium is not just milk and dairy products. I know everyone says drink your milk increase your calcium But green leafy vegetables is actually a better source of calcium than milk next is phosphate You have the three wise men dairy meats and beans did someone say beans lastly we have chloride Which is super simple because it's found mainly where salt is present It's also the main ingredient in salt substitutes along with potassium too very interesting Okay, now that we've covered how to get electrolytes in, let's go over how we get them out, which makes us end up feeling weak and fatigued and hating life, kind of feeling like nursing school.
So let's get into it. Now as far as electrolyte depleters, there are two main exit doors where electrolytes leave the body and go into the potty. So we use our nifty acronym, the PPS.
Vomiting, pooing, peeing, and sweating. So let's start with vomiting. Now we've all done it before and well, Your digestive tract, also called your GI tract, your stomach and intestines, have tons of electrolytes stored in them.
So vomiting or diarrhea or excess stoma drainage, like with a colostomy, will drain your electrolytes very, very quickly. Peeing or urinating, or basically your urinary tract, from your kidneys, or fancier words for renals and nephrons, down to your bladder and out your urethra. Because guys, electrolytes are in the blood, and the blood is filtered.
by the kidneys, also called the washing machines of the body, that wash your blood kinda like a little car wash for your red blood cells. Lastly, we have sweating like when in the gym or running to class or right before your last nursing exam. Wait, Sodium, also called salt, comes out during the sweating process. It's also called insensible losses.
This happens big time with patients with heat exhaustion, fever from sepsis, or a process called diaphoresis, also known as profuse sweating. Basically big time serious sweating. Lastly, a little side note, even burn patients lose a lot of fluid and electrolytes together in the same kind of process of fluid loss.
So the big takeaway point here to wrap all this up is to remember electrolytes reside in fluid. Because where fluids flow, electrolytes go. So let's critically think here. Let's say you threw up from having a bad burrito. Or let's say you're running a marathon using your muscles vigorously and sweating way too much.
Or you went to brunch because you passed your final exam and you ordered one too many mimosas or Bloody Marys or martinis and ended up urinating a lot because let's face it alcohol is a diuretic which makes you pee or Let's say if you have massive diarrhea from food poisoning Well, you're probably gonna feel very very weak and probably start having headaches feeling lethargic or fatigue Because your muscles are now weak and now you're beginning to experience the signs and symptoms of an electrolyte imbalance Okay, so now that we understand what depletes electrolytes in the body let's go over two very confusing terms that students usually get wrong all the time on their nursing exams and the NCLEX. We're talking hemodilution and hemoconcentration. Okay, one last concept about depleted electrolytes. Hemodilution. Or as I say, hemodiluted electrolytes.
Because it means that your electrolytes are low, because they're so diluted. Now, this confuses the heck out of some students before their big exam. But it's pretty simple. Hemodilution is a decreased concentration of solutes in the blood, resulting from an increase of fluid. Basically fancier words for your labs are very low and liquidy.
So let me give you an example here. We all know that drinking water is a good thing, right? But have you ever heard the saying that too much of one thing is kind of a bad thing? Yes. Just one more.
Shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot, shot. Well, your body loves balance, this homeostasis. Your body doesn't like extremes.
It wants to maintain that even level, not too much of one thing. Let's take, for example, a glass of lemonade that has... just the right amount of sugar, just the right amount of lemon, and just the right amount of water. Yummy.
This is exactly like your blood. It has just the right amount of electrolytes, just the right amount of blood products, and just the right amount of water, H2O, right? All right, now let's imagine we dump a whole gallon of water into this lemonade. Well, what do you think is going to happen?
Is it going to taste sweet or is it going to taste diluted? Well, it'll be diluted, right? Not as sweet, not as lemony, more like a bland, tasted, watered down piece of doo doo, right? This is what's called hemodilution.
We still have all the right ingredients, just too much fluid. Basically showing all the lab values to be less than normal. Because all of your electrolytes are floating in just this big sea of water, they're basically diluted. I call these labs low-end liquidy. Mainly seen in our fluid volume.
overload patients like renal failure or even heart failure for example. Just like in my music video on YouTube, the metabolic panel, Hemodilution is an indication of overhydration. Basically too much fluids in the blood, lymph, and vascular space. Now the most serious case of hemodilution is called dilutional hyponatremia. Basically low sodium in the body.
Now we're going to talk about this next in our sodium series here at SimpleNursing.com, so please stay tuned. But first, before we move on, we have another side to the coin here. The same lemonade scenario, but now too little fluid.
Remember that same perfect glass of lemonade? The right amount of sugar, lemon, and water? Now we're just taking out half the water. Is it gonna be super liquidy or super thick?
Well, you're right. It's gonna be thick and syrupy, kind of like paste. And this is exactly what's happening with our dehydrated patients.
Their thick electrolytes will pile sky-high, kind of like a drought. and will read high value on their laboratory report. So this is why we call them high and dry.
Mainly our fluid volume deficit, our dehydrated patients. They'll probably get normal saline and isotonic fluid to balance out those fluid levels. So remember this rhyme, hemo concentration is an indication of dehydration. There's too much solutes in the blood, lymph, and vascular spaces. Electrolytes are that disco dance party of the body that energize your brain, nerves and muscles.
Homeostasis is the body being in balance and all the systems within normal limits. Therapeutic range was that range at which a substance like medication is working its best. Not too toxic and not too least effective.
Our key electrolyte players are potassium at 3.5 to 5.0, salty sodium at 1.36 to 1.45, cocky calcium 9.0 to 10. 10.5, magnum magnesium 1.3 to 2.1, phosphates at 3.0 to 4.5, and fluoride chloride at 98 to 106. Now the memorization trick, write these values out 10 times before and after daily studying, the week before your test. This will help you huge and you'll thank me the day of your test. Now, foods rich in electrolytes. It's always going to be fruits and veggies, guys.
So for potassium, you'll have bananas and green leafy veggies like spinach. Sodium's a little different story. You're going to have table salt, canned foods, processed meat, cheeses, fast food, pretty much anything you're eating currently right now in nursing school, as well as spices or salad dressings and sauces. Basically anything in a can or package. Magnesium, you'll have spinach, almond, yogurt, and again with the green leafy veggies.
calcium you'll have milk and cheese, almonds and oranges, as well as green leafy veggies. Guys, it's not just dairy. Green leafy veggies are actually a better source of calcium. Now, phosphate, your three wisemen are your dairy, meats, and beans.
And chloride is so simple because it's found mainly in salty foods, but also in main ingredients like salt substitute along with potassium too. Now what depletes electrolytes? Well remember where fluids flow, electrolytes go!
So V-PPS, vomiting fluid, peeing fluid, pooping fluid like diarrhea, and sweating fluid. Hemoconcentration rhymes with dehydration, so high and dry, high lab values and dry body. Hemodilution is low in liquidy, that diluted lab values.
So low lab values, liquidy body, seen with our fluid volume overload patients. Thanks for watching. For our full video and new quiz bank, click right up here to access your free trial. And please consider subscribing to our YouTube channel. Last but not least, a big thanks to our team of experts helping us make these great videos.
Alright guys, see you next time.