Up My Nursing Game

In this episode,  Nurse Mo from the Straight A Nursing will delve into pancreatitis - its definition, causes, pathophysiology, and its impact on various systems of the body despite being categorized as a gastrointestinal condition. Additionally, we will discuss significant assessment findings, diagnostic procedures, and treatment options related to pancreatitis. Learn more about NTI, the American...

Tune your delirium radar and add some extra tools in your tool belt to get your delirious patient back on the rails. To help navigate us through the crazy train of delirium in the ED,  Kevin and Lisa from the How Not to Kill Your Patient podcast have joined me to discuss delirium assessment, risk factors, prevention, and treatment. It is part of a week-long Nurses' Podcrawl in which nurse podcaste...

When I created a podcast episode with Kali Dayton, an ICU nurse practitioner and passionate advocate for preventing delirium, I never expected it to have such a profound impact on my nursing practice. To raise awareness about this issue, a group of nurse podcasters will participate in a PodCrawl starting on Monday, April 17th. I've decided to re-release the episode with Kali in preparation for thi...

On this episode, I will share with you the secret sauce of a prolific nursing career. It touches education, evidence-based practice, staying up to date, networking, and "recharging your batteries". This episode is about nursing conferences,  like the American Association of Critical Care Nurses' premier conference, NTI, should be a pillar of every nurse's career. By the end of this episode, you wi...

In this second of a two part series, Dr. Mohammed Soliman, MD, PhD, MBA speaks with us about the landscape of psychiatric medications, a discussion is geared towards hospitals nurses who work in non-psychiatric units such as medical-surgical floors, ICUs, or emergency departments. This episode will cover antipsychotic and mood stabilizing medications as well as when to request a psychiatric consul...

In this first of a two part series, Dr. Mohammed Soliman, MD, PhD, MBA speaks with us about the landscape of psychiatric medications, a discussion is geared towards hospitals nurses who work in non-psychiatric units such as medical-surgical floors, ICUs, or emergency departments. Listen to Dr. Soliman's podcast, Thrive! Learning from the Best. Check out Nicole Kupchik's exam reviews and practice q...

Have you ever wondered what happens to your patients who you discharge home on hospice? What medications do they receive to promote comfort? What does the dying process actually look like? Listen in as Nurse Allie @nurseallie anwers all the questions we have about hospice care. Check out Nicole Kupchik's exam reviews and practice questions at nicolekupchikconsulting.com. Use the promo code UPMYGAM...

Have you always wanted to go on an ambulance ride?  Here is the chance to get a sneak peak at what happens to our patients who are brought in by ambulance. Listen in as Mike Linares from Simple Nursing thoughtfully (and humorously!) recounts stories from his time as an EMT.Check out Nicole Kupchik's exam reviews and practice questions at nicolekupchikconsulting.com. Use the promo code UPMYGAME20 t...

Dr. Eric Strong, internal medicine physician, faculty professor and YouTuber Strong Medicine, reviews the three categories of cardiomyopathy including their etiology, physiology, treatment, and what nurses need to look out for in patients with the disease. Dr. Strong will also explain why the term “cardiomyopathy” is surprisingly misleading and misunderstood by nurses and clinicians alike. Check o...

Listen in as I share a case of vasovagal syncope with rapid response guru, Sarah Lorenzini from the Rapid Response RN Podcast, in which my patient had a syncopal episode while on telemetry. We discuss what the telemetry strip looked like, why atropine might not have been the best intervention for this patient and some of the treatment options for bradycardia. Check out Nicole Kupchik's exam review...

In this episode, I will share with you what I have considered to be my biggest ah-ha moments from the last 2.5 years of hosting this podcast — those that have influenced my practice on just about a daily basis. Check out Nicole Kupchik's exam reviews and practice questions at nicolekupchikconsulting.com. Use the promo code UPMYGAME20 to get 20% off all products. Use the promo code UMNG10 to get 10...

Kidney transplant is, by far, the most common type of transplant procedure performed and therefore the most commonly seen in clinical practice. Dr. Silas Norman, MD, transplant nephrologist, discusses pertinent topics for clinical nurses such as the pre-transplant work-up, post-transplant medications, and potential pitfalls when caring for transplant recipients. Check out Nicole Kupchik's exam rev...

Hostility, uncooperativeness and impulsivity: acute agitation can be one of the most stressful aspects of a nurses job. With forty years of nursing experience, Dee Henderson, RN, MSN, joins us to discuss how both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic interventions can be used to de-escalate the crisis cycle. Check out Nicole Kupchik's exam reviews and practice questions at nicolekupchikconsulting.co...

Here is the definitive episode about ostomies for the bedside nurse. From comparing  and ileal conduit v. ileostomy v. colostomy to coaching your patient on what to expect in life with an ostomy, Sarah Baumgart MSN, APRN, CWOCN, answers many of the questions nurses have about their patients with ostomies. Up your nursing assessment with Eko Stethoscopes. Get noise cancelling, 40x amplification and...

Time is brain. Rapid response nurse, Sarah Lorenzini, is frequently working against the clock to get patients with stroke symptoms to CT and ultimately receiving definitive care. We will discuss what nurses can do to help facilitate fast interventions including tPA, thrombectomy, ventriculostomies, stroke center designation and post-CVA complications. Up your nursing assessment with Eko Stethoscop...

Ketamine seems to be the new "it" drug. Victoria Arsenault, PharmD,  returns to the podcast to discuss how Ketamine's dissociative properties can be used as an analgesic, anesthetic, and antidepressant. Up your nursing assessment with Eko Stethoscopes. Get noise cancelling, 40x amplification and murmur detection. Use the promo code GAME to get $50 off your order. Check out Nicole Kupchik's exam re...

Emergency departments in rural areas work in austere conditions that often require critically ill patients to transfer to larger hospitals that can provide a higher level of care. Kent Herbert, emergency physician, discusses what resources are available at rural hospitals and the process for transferring patients to higher levels of care. Up your nursing assessment with Eko Stethoscopes. Get noise...

A patient's nutrition status is often an afterthought for nurses. Clinical nurse specialist, Janice Powers, PhD, RN explains how nutrition improves patient outcomes and reviews evidence based enteral feeding practices in hopes that nurses will play a more central role in facilitating adequate nutrition for our patients. Up your nursing assessment with Eko Stethoscopes. Get noise cancelling, 40x am...

Healthcare has a complex and convoluted relationship with marijuana. Marijuana is a "schedule 1" substance, meaning it has a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use, yet a synthetic version of it is FDA approved as an appetite stimulant. Dr. Thomas, hospitalist, discusses the relevant historical and political context of the drug, as well as its pharmacology, cannabinoid hyperemesis sy...

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) has a stubbornly high mortality rate with current estimates at about 40%. Critical care veteran Kathleen Vollman, MSN, RN, CCNS lays the foundation of ARDS starting with pathophysiology followed by the “8 Ps” of evidence-based supportive care and summary of long-term prognosis. Check out Nicole Kupchik's exam reviews and practice questions at nicolekupchi...

Status epilepticus (SE) is a neurologic emergency much like an MI is a cardiac emergency and should be treated as such.⁠ From EEGs to medications, Mary Kay Bader MSN, RN talks us through both convulsive and non-convulsive SE.⁠Check out Nicole Kupchik's exam reviews and practice questions at nicolekupchikconsulting.com. Use the promo code UPMYGAME20 to get 20% off all products. Use the promo code U...

Signs of clinical deterioration often start appearing hours before an adverse event or arrest. As nurses, we are in the unique position to be able to identify and act on early warning signs. Nurse Alice, from the Ask Nurse Alice podcast, talks about early signs and symptoms of clinical deterioration and how the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) can be implemented. Please take my listener survey...

Oxycontin, drug-seeking behavior, co-addiction. Who better to talk us through the current opioid crisis with two former law enforcement officers and emergency nurses turned nurse practitioners? Join us for this memorable discussion with Ben and Tom from Just Some Podcast for Advanced Practitioners. Please take my listener survey to help me improve the podcast: https://forms.gle/YdufbTZZoRELxZSG8Ch...

What is it *really* like in the ED and why do emergency nurses often feel like they are at odds with the rest of the hospital? Kevin McFarlane from The Art of Emergency Nursing paints a picture of the ED while addressing important topics like frequent flyers, hand-off reports, and admit holds. Check out Nicole Kupchik's exam reviews and practice questions at nicolekupchikconsulting.com. Use the pr...

We all know BLS and even ACLS like the back of our hands so now it's time to understand *why*. Why are VF and VT under the arrest algorithms? Why epi? Why are survival rates so low, even in the hospital? Former paramedic and current BLS and ACLS instructor, Al Gook, answers some basic yet honest questions we all have about cardiac arrest and what we can do to improve our stubbornly low survival ra...