In this instructional video, Christina from Nursing School of Success breaks down metabolic acidosis for nursing students, focusing on its definition, the normal arterial blood gas (ABG) values, and the physiological role of the kidneys. She explains that metabolic acidosis occurs when blood pH falls below 7.35 due to insufficient bicarbonate (HCO3-) production by the kidneys, whose normal range is 22‑26 mEq/L. The video lists common causes such as chronic or acute kidney disease, severe diarrhea, and diabetic ketoacidosis, and contrasts metabolic acidosis with respiratory acidosis, emphasizing that the latter involves lung dysfunction and CO2 retention rather than kidney bicarbonate deficits. Christina also points learners to a step‑by‑step ABG interpretation guide and encourages them to apply this knowledge in clinical practice.
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In this video, I'm going to break down exactly what metabolic acidosis is and what you need to know about it for nursing school. Let's do it. Hey there, friend Christina here with nursingschoolofsuccess.com here to help you both raise your grades and have more free time for your family and everything else you have in your life during nursing school. And today, we are talking about metabolic acidosis. So metabolic acidosis is one of really the four main kinds of categories that you need to know about in nursing school when it comes to ABGs. Metabolic acidosis, respiratory acidosis, metabolic alkalosis, and respiratory alkalosis. We're going to talk about the other three in the other videos in this series. So metabolic acidosis can mean two things. There's too much acid in the body or there's not enough base. And the way to determine if the blood is acidic or not is to look at the PH value. On your patient's arterial blood gas panel, or ABG panel, a normal pH pH value is between 7.35 and 7.45. This is a number you need to memorize. I'm sorry about that. I know we don't like memorizing things, but it's just one that you'll need to commit to memory. So 7.35 to 7.45. So when the pH is less than 7.4, it's more acidic. When the pH is greater than 7.4, it's MORE basic. So during metabolic acidosis, it's acidosis, meaning the PH is more acidic or less than 7.4. Now, there are two key players that you need to know about when you're learning about metabolic acidosis or arterial blood gases. In nursing school, you've got the lungs and you've got the kidneys. So when you see the word metabolic when it refers to ABGs, I want you to immediately think of the kidneys. The kidneys are the problem in metabolic acidosis. We'll call them the party poopers. They are the ones causing that metabolic acidosis to happen. So here's what's happening. During metabolic acidosis, the blood is becoming more and more acidic, meaning that the PH is dropping below that 7.4, below 7.35. Because the kidneys are not giving enough bicarbonate or enough base to help compensate. The kidneys are responsible for making bicarbonate, which is a base. So when the blood becomes acidic, the kidneys are supposed to give more and more bicarbonate to then help balance out that phosphorus. But here's the problem? During metabolic acidosis, the kidneys aren't doing their job well. They aren't giving enough bicarbonate or HCO3 to help keep the PH in balance, which then causes metabolic acidosis to occur. A normal bicarbonate level, or HCO3 is between 22 to 26 milli equivalents per liter MEQ L and during metabolic acidosis, the HCO3 level will be lower than normal. So some causes of metabolic acidosis are things like kidney disease, including chronic kidney disease or acute kidney injury, severe diarrhea, diabetes, or diabetic ketoacidosis or dka. Now in these cases, the kidneys can't make or retain enough bicarbonate to help balance out that increasing acidity of the blood. Now here's a place you might get stuck on this topic. So metabolic acidosis is different than respiratory acidosis. In metabolic acidosis, like we talked about here, the kidneys are not giving enough bicarbonate to then make up for that increased acid in the body. So because the kidneys are not doing their job, it's causing that metabolic acidosis. Now on the other hand, if the lungs were the problem, we would call it respiratory acidosis. In that case, the lungs would be retaining too much CO2 or too much acid. It doesn't have much to do with the bicarbonate because respiratory acidosis is not a kidney problem, it's a lung problem. So those two are very different things. So remember, when you hear the term metabolic, when it's referred to ABGs, think kidneys. And during metabolic acidosis, that means the kidneys are not giving enough bicarbonate to the body to then help bring that ph back up to normal. Now if you want a step by step guide for interpreting ABG values or arterial blood gas panel values in nursing school, be sure to check out the video that we've got for you on that. I put a link down below in the description for you to check it out. Now go become the nurse that God created only you to be and I will see you in the next video.
