Author: A. Lexgelinas

The first friend I interviewed didn’t know what cardiopulmonary arrest meant. After I explained it to him he said it means there’s an emergency. When asking if he knew the term “MI”, he reported he didn’t know what that word meant either. I educated him that this is a medical term for a heart attack. Finally, when I asked his perception of CPR he described it as one person helping another person come back to life by pushing fluid where it needs to go to sustain life.

The next friend I interviewed guessed that cardiopulmonary arrest meant failure of the heart and lungs. I told him yes, the heart stops beating ,leading to lack of oxygen, and eventual death. He didn’t know what an MI was. I educated him by stating an “MI” stands for a myocardial infarction and is the medical term for a heart attack. Lastly, he perceives CPR as compression of the heart to pump blood to get the heart beating again.

The final friend I interviewed thought cardiopulmonary arrest is when the lungs stop. I gave him the same education I gave to my second friend. He guessed that an “MI” was a minor injury. I gave him the same education that I gave to my second friend. Finally he perceives CPR as a person trying to save a life of another who has drowned or choked on food.

With the friends I interviewed, it was clear that the big medical words and abbreviations aren’t everyday language and common terminology non-medical professions hear. When reflecting on my own thoughts before pursuing the medical world, I didn’t have a grasp on these terms either. Although, hearing that they know CPR is a means of saving one’s life made me very happy to hear. I believe it’s important for everyone to learn about CPR because you never know what situation you could be faced with and have an opportunity to sustain someone’s life.

In evaluating my diet, I’ve learned I could most definitely adjust to a heart healthy cardiac diet of low fat and low salt. As of my current diet, I try to eliminate salt at all costs. I don’t use it for seasoning and don’t crave it. Some people will say to me, “a little salt won’t hurt you.” However, I don’t have cravings for it and feel there are other seasonings that make the food I’m eating taste great! An intervention I would encourage for those needing a cardiac diet but love salt is to try different seasonings and even condiments with lower salt content. I would also refer them to the American Heart Association website because those recipes looked very appetizing and easy to make for someone on the cardiac diet. The only concern I had for adjusting to the cardiac diet was the low fat intake. I utilize fats as fuel for my body for my workouts. However, I stay away from saturated fats as suggested but certainly utilize unsaturated fats as recommended in a low fat diet such as nuts, seeds, oils, and fatty fish. An additional benefit of the American Heart Association website is that it tells you what foods should be limited and what to replace them with.

I stayed disconnected for the majority of the day. From the time I woke up until I went to bed. I spent the beginning of my day reading/studying my textbook. Otherwise, I had a 4 hour conversation with someone I had just met. Other than showing me pictures on his phone from his road trip, we just talked about various subjects: school, politics, weather, health, geography, diet, his son (my boyfriend), life, etc. My first time meeting my boyfriends dad was amazing! We knew minimal information about each other and before you knew it, 4 hours later we knew so much about each other. It was perfect timing for this blog and allowed two human beings to connect face to face without technology. We learned a lot about each other from viewing each others body language and matching our facial expressions to what we were talking about. It was refreshing to have an encounter of full human connection without technology.

The drug I chose is Furosemide (Lasix). The reason I chose this drug is because it commonly occurs in our readings and seems like a common diuretic we come across in the hospital. This diuretic inhibits reabsorption of sodium and chloride from the loop of Henle and distal renal tubule. It increases renal excretion of water, sodium, chloride, magnesium, potassium, and calcium. The drug is still effective when impaired renal function is present. 60-67% of the drug is absorbed after oral administration. 

The patient needs to be assessed for skin rash which could be life-threatening. Fluid status needs to be assessed by monitoring I&O’s, edema, lung sounds, skin turgor, and mucous membranes. BP and pulse should also be monitored. In patients with decreased renal function, hearing loss may occur with high-dose IV administration. 

The lab value I least like is the minimum normal value for calcium. I just have a difficult time remembering this value. Every other value in Chapter 13 I have an easy time remembering since they’re either whole numbers, multiples of 5, or 10 numbers apart such as sodium, 135 to 145 mEq/L. The lab value I like the most is the maximum normal value of sodium, 145 mEq/L. I’ve been exposed to it a lot in nursing school so it’s easy to recall and a simple whole number. 

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!