Stages of a Seizure + Must-Know Seizure Symptoms For Nursing School

1 May 2025 · 1 min

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In this instructional video, the speaker outlines the three clinical stages of a seizure that nursing students must master. The aura phase is described as a warning period with sensory disturbances such as odd tastes, smells, dizziness, headache, or nausea. The ictal phase covers the active seizure, differentiating tonic seizures (stiffening, rigidity, loss of consciousness) from clonic seizures (rhythmic jerking, abnormal breathing, pupil changes). The postictal phase details the recovery period, noting confusion, headache, sleepiness, and impaired cognition. The speaker concludes by directing viewers to Med‑Surg flashcards available in the Nursing SOS shop for further study.

Chapters

Here are the stages of a seizure that you'll need to know for nursing school. The first stage is the aura phase, and this is the warning phase where the patient might have a funny feeling, a funny taste, or sometimes even a funny smell. They could be dizzy, have a headache, or feel nauseous. And then during the ictal phase, this is during the active seizure. So during a tonic seizure, they'll have stiffening, rigidity and a loss of consciousness. During a clonic seiz seizure, there will be rhythmic jerking, abnormal breathing, and pupil changes. Now, in the postictal phase, this is the recovery. So after the seizure happens, the patient could feel confused, have a headache, be pretty sleepy, and have impaired cognition. You can find all these med surg flashcards inside the nursing SOS shop.