NCLEX Simplified: Respiratory and Endocrine

Begin this NCLEX simplified course with introduction to respiratory and depression topics, outlining a challenging but rewarding study path. Learn tips for asking questions and reach instructor via email.

Explore respiratory topics like atelectasis risk after surgery from poor airway clearance, signs such as accessory muscle use and dyspnea, and relief strategies.

Assess respiration rates, recognize normal 18–20 breaths per minute, note hyperventilation with CO2 loss and dizziness, and orthopnea indicating heart failure, including pillow use as a warning sign.

Identify abnormal respiratory sounds like crackles, wheezes, stridor, snoring, and friction rub, and master suctioning principles: nasal before oral suction, sterile lubrication, semi-Fowler's position, and brief intermittent suction.

Perform tracheostomy care with sterile technique, change the cannula every eight hours, and apply a sterile dressing; monitor hypoxia and wean with synchronized intermittent mandatory ventilation, checking tubes and alarms.

Examine COPD and emphysema, emphasizing air trapping and CO2 retention with respiratory acidosis; learn why limited oxygen (2 liters max), incentive spirometry, and dextromethorphan and guaifenesin support breathing.

Learn about asthma, a condition causing trouble breathing from mucus and allergic stimuli or stress, with signs like shortness of breath and wheezing, and management with albuterol and emergency care.

Identify spontaneous and tension pneumothorax by recognizing sudden chest pain and absent breath sounds, and apply chest tube management, including water seal bubbling, suction, clamping checks, and the Savo maneuver.

Differentiate pulmonary edema, with pink tinged foamy sputum, from pleural effusion, a fluid around the lungs treated by bedside thoracentesis using sterile technique and informed consent.

Explore tuberculosis signs such as night sweats, low-grade fever, and productive cough; learn airborne precautions, a six-to-nine-month drug regimen, morning sputum testing, and PPD interpretation.

Identify how legionnaire's disease arises from inhaled legionella bacteria causing pneumonia and apply abg interpretation to distinguish respiratory acidosis and compensation using ph, co2, and bicarbonate.