Sneaky Emergencies

The Hidden Dangers We Didn't See Coming

Click the image above to preview of Sneaky Emergencies, a 1 CNE course found in The Nurse Gwenny Library

Hot off the press, is a new course from Nurse Gwenny on Sneaky Emergencies.

This course is 1 CNE and can be found in The Nurse Gwenny Library.

The topics discussed in the Sneaky Emergency course include:

• Button Battery Ingestion

• Thyroid Storm

• DKA

• Rupture Ectopic Pregnancy

• Geriatric Sepsis

• Alcohol-related emergencies

In this lecture, Nurse Gwenny helps teach clinicians to recognize “sneaky” high-risk emergencies that mimic benign conditions and to apply evidence-based nursing interventions.   Through the session you're gonna learn how to be a medical detective and not be bamboozled by some of these pathologies!

Have you ever wondered why bars serve pretzels and salted peanuts with your drinks?

It's not just for taste or to make you thirsty for more beer. These salty snacks play a crucial role in preventing a condition known as dilutional hyponatremia. When a person consumes large amounts of beer without adequate salt intake, their body's sodium levels can dangerously drop, leading to dilutional hyponatrmeia.

But why is this important?

Well, it's more dangerous than it sounds. Acute alcohol withdrawal syndrome can be fatal, especially in individuals who regularly consume alcohol. Symptoms might start small, but can escalate quickly. Like Gwenny mentioned in the clip, a telltale sign is when patients start seeing things that aren't there or feeling bugs on their skin that don't exist. This signals it’s time to act fast.

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There you can dive deeper into Sneaky Emergencies and be ready for your next case that features:

• Wernicke encephalopathy (the thiamine deficiency triad that resembles intoxication. often with concurrent infection)

• Beer potomania (dilutional hyponatremia from heavy beer intake)

• Alcoholic ketoacidosis (DKA-like with normal/low glucose, high ethanol, electrolyte deficits, need for high minute ventilation if intubated)

• Fatal alcohol withdrawal requiring benzodiazepines.

• Ruptured ectopic pregnancy presenting with days of vague abdominal pain and rapid hypovolemic shock

• Button battery ingestion causing rapid alkali burns (halo/step-off signs, honey as temporizing measure)

• Thyroid storm (AFib RVR, psychosis; “five Bs” treatment)

• Myxedema coma mimicking geriatric sepsis, plus geriatric sepsis pitfalls

• Euglycemic DKA diagnosis and airway/ventilation considerations.

These course and others are exclusive found in The Nurse Gwenny Library.

Wanna check out a course for free and see if it matches your learning style? Click on the image below to access Trauma Triads!

Trauma Triads a free course in The Nurse Gwenny Library