Thinking like a Nurse....

Have you ever looked at someone and started diagnosing what their physical conditions and diseases may be?

With an extended family the size of mine I get alot of practice with learning medication side effects, s/s of disease processes, wound care and diabetic maintenance and teaching. I am constantly asking my dad about is BPH symptoms, his BP and what his blood sugars are.

So when I saw my aunt yesterday for the first time in 5 years... I was like, oh you have COPD. You could hear it in her breath sounds and the way she talked. In her case she has both emphysema and chronic bronchitis. Then I was like wow look at that clubbing you have. Hers is predominately caused by Hepatopulmonary syndrome, a complication of cirrhosis, but I think its the first time I noticed, really noticed and could relate the clinical findings in person and not just some book.

Yeah me... lol