Every Nursing Student SHOULD KNOW THIS!

There's one secret in nursing school that instructors know and students don't. And it might just cause you to fail your exams if you don't figure it out. Do you know what it is? Critical thinking. Yeah, I know. And it can be so, so frustrating because nursing schools don't actually teach critical thinking, but they still expect you to know how to do it so that you can pass your nursing exams. So you're left to figure it out alone. And if you don't get it right, it's bad news. So in this video, I'm going to walk you through exactly how to critically think so that you can pass your exams and be more confident in nursing school. We'll also go through some examples to make it fun. Let's do it. So I got all fancy and wanted to make a step by step, process, process to make critical thinking easier for you. It's called the DRC Critical Thinking Model. And you can use these exact steps to study better for your exams. The D stands for description or definition. This is a very high level. But we, we have to start here before we can move on to the other steps. Right, gotta start. High level. So the D is the definition or description of the topic. So some questions you should be asking yourself are things like what is it? What is it that you need to about, what's the description of it? So this means that you'll write out what it is, what are you learning about, what you need to know about it, what is the description of it? Don't worry, I'm going to put all of this into an example for you here in a minute. So hang tight, stay with me here. It's all going to come together for you. So that is the first step, the D, what's the definition or the description of the topic that you are learning about? And then making sure that you have a solid high level understanding of what the concept is before we move on to the next steps so we know what the D stands for. Now the next step is the R, which is the reason or rationale. This is the why behind the topic. So here's where we start to get a little more in depth and take it one step further. You'll write out why it happens, why it matters. So understanding why it's happening, why it actually matters, helps you really understand it at a deeper level and really be able to apply it. Now this is the reasoning behind it. And most often this step is related to the pathophysiology. So let's say for example, you're studying a Particular disorder in nursing school, you're writing out why it happens. This is where you'll dive into the pathophysiology of what's happening with the disorder. Why is the disorder happening? And then the next step is C, which stands for connection. Now this is really, really where your critical thinking skills will shine. You'll connect the topic to everything else that you're learning about in nursing school. This is the. How, how does this topic connect to everything else? This is where it really all starts to come together. It's super cool. Once you start to recognize that it's happening, it's that aha moment, right? The wow, I'm really starting to think like a nurse now. All right, so we know that the DRC critical thinking model, what it stands for. Let's use it to break down a complex system, let's say, say the cardiac system. Then you'll want to stick around, of course, because I'm going to go through a practice NCLEX question to show you how using the DRC critical thinking model. This method for studying will help you critically think on your nursing school exam. So it's super cool. So hang tight. So the first step is the definition or description. So the description of the cardiac system, right? So the cardiac system, remember, super high level here. So the definition, right, is that it pumps blood through the body, right? That's basically what it does. It contains the heart, the blood vessels and the blood. And when it all works together, hopefully the heart is pumping blood into those blood vessels to the organs and then that blood comes back to the heart to be reoxygenated by the lungs and then circulated through the body again. That's really the cardiac system in a nutshell, right? So see what I mean by really high level? We didn't dive exactly into how the heart worked. We kept it really high level. But don't worry, we will go deeper in the other steps. So let's take it a little further with the R. So which stands for reasoning or rationale, right? So why does this matter? Why is the cardiac system important? What's the point? So here we could write out what its purpose is, what it does. So why does it matter? Well, the blood in the cardiac system is rich with nutrients and oxygen, right? Which are two things that the organs need to function. Without those nutrients and without the oxygen, the organs would just fail, right? That's no good. So the blood also takes away DNA, deoxygenated blood and waste products from those organs. So as the organs and the body tissues function throughout the day they create waste products, things like carbon dioxide, lactic acid, and it's the blood's job to bring those waste products, take them where they need to go, be removed from the body. So that's the R part of the DRC critical thinking model for the cardiac system, just as an example. It transports nutrients to the body, to the body tissues, and removes those waste products from the organs. So we are still keeping it pretty short here. We just want to understand why it's important. Now let's move on to the really good part, the C, which stands for connection. How does the cardiac system connect with everything else that you're learning about in nursing school? Now, I bet you can see where I'm going with this here, because this is really where the fun begins, right? The cardiac system really affects the entire body. But let's focus on two main areas that it impacts. It impacts the lungs and it impacts the kidneys. So in nursing school, you'll probably study the respiratory system along with the cardiac system. You might even study the renal system and the kidneys along with it too. So that's why we want to connect all those three together for you because that'll be super helpful for your exam. So I'm basically going to give you all the answers here, so don't miss this part. So let's walk through it. So the cardiac system sends blood to all of the other organs in the tissues in the body, including the lungs and the kidneys. So if the heart is pumping fine and the blood is circulating properly, then the lungs and the kidneys are very happy campers and they can do their job just fine. But if the heart starts to fail, lag behind, can't do its job really well, can't circulate properly, then that's where we start to see problems. Now here is where we're going to dive deeper and think about, well, what could those problems be? Right? This is the critical thinking part. So if the blood isn't able to pump blood forward in the body, then it is going to stagnate and stay in the heart, right? And then back up into the system. And where's the first place it's going to back up into? If it can't go to the body, it's going to go to the lungs. And if it can't pump blood to the body, it's going to go back into the lungs, fill, fill up those lungs with fluid. So what will happen if fluid builds up in the lungs? Now that leads to a whole bunch of problems. So what do you think is going to happen in the lungs when they have extra blood, that extra fluid in them, well, they will get filled more and more with fluid. So when you listen with your stethoscope, you will probably hear crackles. You know that's caused by fluid buildup in the lungs. Maybe your patient will have trouble breathing since their lungs aren't able to do all that gas exchange that they need because they have a layer of fluid in their lungs. Right. If blood isn't going to the rest of the body, including the kidneys, what would you expect to see in your patient? Now, the first thing that came to my mind is decrease in urine output. Of course, if the kidneys aren't getting the blood that they need, they aren't going to be able to do their job right to make urine. Right. So they might have a decreased urine output. Now, on top of that, if the heart isn't pumping blood to the body, you'll probably notice that it's harder to feel the patient's pulses in their wrists or their feet. And if the blood isn't pumping there as much, their pulses will be decreased. Right. Their hands and their feet might also be cooler. They might be pale just since there's not as much blood circulating through the body to warm them up. So do you see how all of these things kind of connect together the cardiac system, the respiratory system, and the kidneys. So that is the connection part of the DRC critical thinking model. Connecting the dots with everything else that you are learning. Now really challenge yourself here. I really don't want you to just stay high level and call it good. You've got to dive deep and pull the concepts together. Now this will help you so, so much when we dive into some NCLEX practice problems to really show you how helpful this will be. Now, before we dive into the practice questions, I want to make sure that you have the free critical thinking cheat sheet that we have for you that walks you through nine key critical thinking questions that you've got to ask as you were studying. It's going to help you bring it all together and understand it better for your exam. So that is down below in the description for you to snag it after you watch this video. All right, now we're going to do something that I hope you will love. We're going to go through an NCLEX question and talk through how what we just learned with the DRC critical thinking model about the cardiac system, how it applies to a real life question. I'm telling you, friend, this is going to change the game for you and how you are studying. So your patient is being being admitted for right sided heart failure. Which symptom of left sided heart failure would warrant further assessment? Okay, you ready for this? A jugular venous distension, B crackles in the lungs, heard on auscultation or C enlarged liver and spleen or D edema. So let's walk through this here because even though we didn't necessarily talk through right sided heart failure, we talked through the cardiac system as a whole. Right. We put it through the DRC critical thinking model so we can critically think our way through this one. So let's do it together now, without looking at the possible answers, let's think about the heart and what the two sides of the heart do. So we know the heart's job is to pump the blood around the body to provide oxygen and nutrients. And we know that it circulates into the heart from the body on the right side and then out to the body from the left side. So if we were talking about right sided heart failure, that would mean that the right side of the heart is having trouble keeping up, so having trouble pumping the blood from the body to the lungs to be oxygenated. So what are some things that we will most likely see because we know how the cardiac system works. Right. So with this patient, what would we likely see? Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that if the right side of the heart isn't able to keep up with the demands of the blood from the body going from the right atrium, we can expect that the blood is going to back up into the body. Right. If the right side of the heart can only pump so much blood to the lungs and the blood has to wait its turn, where does it go? Right, it's going to go in the veins. When those get too full, it's going to go into the body. So we can expect to see edema and very full veins. Now let's talk through what we would see in a patient with left sided heart failure as well. So. So when the left side of the heart is struggling to pump the blood out to the body, what are some things we would see? So the backup of blood will have to go somewhere. Right. Since the left side of the heart can't keep up, so it will end up in the lungs. If the lungs will get congested with a higher fluid volume, then. Right. So now that we've reviewed both left and right sided heart failure, now let's go back to the question. Okay, your patient is Being admitted for right sided heart failure as a nurse, which symptom stands out that is usually a symptom of left sided heart failure, not a symptom of right sided heart failure. Right. Which one would warrant further assessment? Which one stands out as a more left sided heart failure instead of right? Now you get the hint. Think about the lungs, right? Okay. Yes, you're right. B right crackles in the lungs since the blood would be backing up to the lungs first with left sided heart failure. Left sided heart failure over the body, Right. So crackles would more commonly be associated with left sided heart failure. Now when we take a look at the other options now they all have to do with blood backing up into the body, right? The veins, jugular, venous distension, enlarged liver and spleen. Because the inferior vena cava feeding the right side of the heart rate is overflowing, putting extra pressure on that liver and spleen, causing the blood to back up into that venous system because the right side of the heart can't keep up. And then edema of course, because the excess volume in the right to the heart has nowhere else to go, so it backs up into the body and causes edema. Now this is how to take your critical thinking to the next level. Right friends, you can pass your exams and you know your exams are going to try to trick you so much. So make sure to check out these exam hacks so you don't fall for it. And if you want the key critical thinking points for everything that you need to know about in nursing school, then I really hope that you don't miss out on joining the nursing SOS membership community the next time enrollment opens again. We walk you through everything that you need to know for your exams and inside the membership community so you don't need to figure it out all by yourself. I'm here to walk you through it and I can't wait to see you inside and go become the nurse that God created only you to be. And I'll see you in the next video.