Anatomy and Physiology Lectures - Do Nurses Need to Know Anatomy? | Nursing School Question

Do nurses need to know anatomy? Nursing students struggling in their Anatomy and Physiology class often ask this question. The short answer to this question is…YES! As a nurse, you certainly don’t have to possess a triple PhD in anatomy, but you will need to know the basics. Nursing students often struggle with this class, but you will actually use anatomy on the job. I’ll give you five reasons why you’ll need to know anatomy as a nurse. 1. Anatomy Knowledge Helps Nurses Perform Nursing Assessments When you perform a head-to-toe assessment (or other nursing assessments), you’ll need a good understanding of anatomy so that you can understand what you’re assessing. For example, when you listen to the heart, you’ll need to know which valves you’re assessing. When you listen to the lungs, in which lobe did you hear that crackle sound? If your patient tells you that they are experiencing abdominal pain in their right lower quadrant, then you’ll know that it could be the appendix causing the pain. 2. Anatomy Knowledge Helps Nurses Perform Nursing Skills If you’re going to draw blood or start an IV, you’ll want to know the location of the best veins for that nursing skill. 3. Anatomy Knowledge Helps Nurses Understand How Diseases Affect the Body For example, if your patient is in renal failure, you can think back to the anatomy of the kidney. You can understand that the nephrons are not working properly. Add to that a little physiology, and you can understand how your patient will be having problems with fluid overload. In addition, consider pneumonia, a condition that affects many people each year. In this case, you can use your anatomy knowledge to understand how the alveoli sacs have impaired gas exchange, so we can have low oxygen saturation and acid-base imbalances in those patients. 4. Anatomy Knowledge Helps Nurses Understand Treatments for Your Patients Suppose a patient is receiving intravenous diuretics. As a nurse, you’ll want to know which anatomical structures (or organs) these drugs will affect. In this example, diuretics will affect the kidneys. See more: http://www.registerednursern.com/nurses-need-know-anatomy/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RegisteredNurseRNs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/registerednursern_com/ Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=registerednursern Nursing School Supplies: http://www.registerednursern.com/the-ultimate-list-of-nursing-medical-supplies-and-items-a-new-nurse-student-nurse-needs-to-buy/ Visit our website RegisteredNurseRN.com for free quizzes, nursing care plans, salary information, job search, and much more: http://www.registerednursern.com Check out other Videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/RegisteredNurseRN/videos All of our videos in a playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAhHxt663pU&list=PLQrdx7rRsKfXMveRcN4df0bad3ugEaQnk Popular Playlists: NCLEX Reviews: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfWtwCDmLHyX2UeHofCIcgo0 Fluid & Electrolytes: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfWJSZ9pL8L3Q1dzdlxUzeKv Nursing Skills: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfUhd_qQYEbp0Eab3uUKhgKb Nursing School Study Tips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfWBO40qeDmmaMwMHJEWc9Ms Nursing School Tips & Questions" https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfVQok-t1X5ZMGgQr3IMBY9M Teaching Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfUkW_DpJekN_Y0lFkVNFyVF Types of Nursing Specialties: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfW8dRD72gUFa5W7XdfoxArp Healthcare Salary Information: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfVN0vmEP59Tx2bIaB_3Qhdh New Nurse Tips: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfVTqH6LIoAD2zROuzX9GXZy Nursing Career Help: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfVXjptWyvj2sx1k1587B_pj EKG Teaching Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfU-A9UTclI0tOYrNJ1N5SNt Dosage & Calculations for Nurses: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfUYdl0TZQ0Tc2-hLlXlHNXq Diabetes Health Managment: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQrdx7rRsKfXtEx17D7zC1efmWIX-iIs9