What is hypocalcemia, and what are the key concepts the NCLEX wants RN nursing students and LPN students to know about fluid and electrolyte imbalances?
It’s official everybody cocky calcium that jerk is going on a all-inclusive vacation to mexico baja california that low calcium get it see california oh gillian yeah you can see i’m chillin by the pool forgetting his job duties and learning a few new dance moves like true soz which is basically that arm to work when you put a blood pressure cuff on he’ll also
Learn bostick sign which is that smile when you touch this side of the face kind of like this and he’ll also have massive diarrhea but more on this in a minute today we’re wrapping up hypocalcemia hypo meaning low-cal meaning calcium at emia in the blood so calcium less than 9.0 in the blood calcium is regulated by three main hormones first the parathyroid
Hormone which increases calcium concentration inside the blood next is calcitonin hormone which decreases blood calcium and puts a ton of calcium into the bone third is calcitriol which controls blood calcium by inhibiting the release of calcitonin basically it reverses that ton of calcium in the bone so calcium gets released into the bloodstream now here’s a
Little fun fact about calcium his bff his best friend forever is magnum magnesium so calcium helps fill job functions for magnesium often when magnesium is low his worst enemy is friendly frat boy phosphate so you’ll often see when phosphate is low calcium is high and when calcium is low phosphates high now calcium is a strong guy and so his function is to keep
The three be strong so strong bones blood and beats for blood the clotting factors will be strong and beats we’re talking about heartbeats now the main causes that dump calcium out of the body and into the potty we use the acronym low kelly because it’s like low california and get it ca california so the l stands for low pair of thyroidism now since p th that
Parathyroid hormone increases blood calcium levels well then guys decrease pth secretion will decrease that blood calcium levels so if your patient has a history of surgeries like a thyroidectomy well then you want to check the calcium levels like always pancreatitis is an inflammation inside the abdominal cavity usually from infections but it also causes low
Calcium primarily from the release of calcium soaps inside the abdominal cavity and it stimulates calcitonin hormone to put all that calcitonin from the blood and into the bone so calcitonin in the bone right oh is for oral meds that deplete calcium like laxatives and loop diuretics like furosemide but also kota ko steroids in large doses or prolonged use can cause
A reaction to suppress that pth parathyroid hormone and it suppresses calcium release in the blood anti-seizure medications like dilantin which is a phenobarbital promote excretion of calcium by the kidneys and our last two phosphate enemas which increase phosphate and decrease calcium remember they’re like arch enemies and finally citrate is an anticoagulant
Used in blood products it is usually rapidly metabolized by the liver right here but guys with liver damage or rapid administration of let’s say stored blood products it may cause hypocalcemia and low magnesium because citrate binds to calcium and magnesium in the blood so remember magnesium and calcium are bffs best friends forever so they kind of follow each
Other around wherever they go w is for wound rain especially in the gi system where calcium is normally absorbed and the next is kind of the same year because see a chronic diseases like silly ak disease and crohn’s disease diseases of the bowel cosmo absorption of calcium in the gi tract so you can also stand for chronic kidney issues like excessive excretion of
Calcium by the kidneys or even diuretics that cause excretion of calcium through diuresis basically peeing it out a s for antibiotics now some antibiotics can push calcium into the cell and decrease those serum blood levels of calcium l is for low vitamin d or low magnesium levels which can lead to hypocalcemia because remember they help each other absorb in the
Body so once again i’ve said it before but i’ll say it again magnesium and calcium are best buds and they love vitamin d together i is for increased phosphate levels in the blood because remember phosphate and calcium are arch enemies and do the opposite of each other so if one is high well then the other one is low so what’s going on in hypocalcemia well low
Low calcium right and since kaka calcium has gone to mexico baja california all that everything on the body is on vacation so when you’re on vacation you usually forget about your job duties so you think they’re gonna be strong bones well no guys there’s gonna be week so we’ll have fractures you think they’ll be strong clotting factors not at all it’ll be weak
So big risk for bleeding you think they’ll be strong heartbeats no there’s gonna be dysrhythmias you guys he’s in mexico he’s excited he forgot about his jobs in the heart you’ll have excitability so ventricular tachycardia a very deadly rhythm that can be shocked now before it gets to be tach the ekg might have prolonged qt intervals and st segments as well as
Slow clotting factors so a huge risk for bleeding and even heart failure so the lungs will be excited you’ll have lorenzo spasms which causes a strider it’s basically a narrowing of the windpipe which causes a harsh high-pitched noise when breathing now it’s rare in adults but it’s very serious because an airway problem difficulty breathing called dyspnea and
Even crackles when heart failure is present gi will be excited so you’ll have massive diarrhea as well as intestinal cramping so neurologically you’ll have excitability so seizures confusion even personality changes and may even exhibit signs of dementia or even psychosis musculoskeletal the biggest two indicators of low calcium are our two famous dance moves first
We have troost o’s which is our tamborine dance move basically that arm to work with the blood pressure cuff up next is to bostic’s which is that cheesy smile when touching the temporal lobe area like this alright now that we know what’s wrong with the patient what are we going to do about it here’s some nursing interventions for hypocalcemia and honestly it’s a
Simple fix we’re just gonna add some kelsey so we use our acronym fast for nursing interventions so foods high in calcium we use the acronym ls d l for leafy greens like spinach colored greens andrew barn s is for sardines and tofu and d is for dairy like cheese’s milk and yogurt a is for administration of meds like calcium acetate now the trade name being follow
Will give iv calcium and oral calcium with vitamin d supplements to make sure they absorb now doctors may order calcium containing anti acids like tums or even maalox also called my atlanta generic name for aluminum hydroxide or magnesium hydroxide because please remember the nclex is only gonna ask you these generic names no more trade names now these are given
To increase magnesium in hopes that calcium will increase too because let’s be honest their best friends oh mylanta s is for safety so the risk for falls fractures and bleeding because guys remember the 3 b’s calcium is responsible we want to protect and make strong so for weak bones we have fracture precautions so guys watch out for falls weak blood you have a
Low clotting factor so big risk for bleeding so educate your patients to be careful when shaving as well as not to bear down when pooping as well as not to brush too hard when brushing their teeth now the last one is weak beat so watch out for cardiac dysrhythmias t is for teach so take calcium booster supplements like magnesium supplements and vitamin d and avoid
Calcium deplete earth like laxatives and loop diuretics alright guys that wraps up low calcium that hypocalcemia 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
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Electrolyte Imbalances | Hypocalcemia (Low Calcium) By Simple Nursing
