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Blog 2.2- One Step Ahead

I have good news, I am actually accomplishing things! I have been learning a lot about pharmacology and diseases and it has been really fun. I have also started to learn how to do some injections and everything involved in the whole process. I wasn't planning to do injections so soon, but it has ended up being easier to learn the pharmacology along with my injections so I can understand more about both.
Image result for subcutaneous injection simulation
Subcutaneous injections simulation

I have something to admit, learning the Greek and Latin roots is going to help me a lot! Sitting in the lectures, I am able to figure out what some words mean before most of the nursing students do. I never realized how many words I can figure out by using the roots until I sat in the lectures. One word I figured out was tachycardia which is a fast heat rate. I felt very accomplished knowing that I could figure out those words without having to read them in a textbook.

Image result for heparin Ampule
Ampule used for some medication. 
I have been learning subcutaneous injections which are injections where the medicine is injected into the fatty tissue underneath the dermis. I learned about giving an insulin shot which is a fairly simple injection with very few steps. Since I already know how to give shots to cattle, it was pretty easy for me to figure how to load the syringe and give the injection. The second injection I learned was heparin which came in an ampule. I learned how to break open the ampule, load the syringe using a filter needle or straw, and then change the needle to give the injection.

So far I have learned way more than I thought I would and I am really enjoying it all. Next week I hope to learn about giving an intramuscular shot and continue my adventure into pharmacology.

Comments

  1. Heather BakerFebruary 6, 2019 at 4:17 PM

    That's so cool that you are able to apply the vocab outside of school. I also had no idea that there where different types of injections. Good luck with learning pharmacology- I've heard that studying medicine is very challenging!

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  2. Alex MitchellFebruary 7, 2019 at 10:01 PM

    Cool stuff Amy . . . I always like to provide an anecdote or a suggestion, but I really don't know much about the world of pharmacology or the medical field . . . I suppose I was watching a 60 Minutes story on those syringes that you stab into people when they're od'd on opioids. Is that like the subcutaneous injection you have learned this week or is it a much more friendly version of a injection that doesn't require as much knowledge? Does the same go with the EpiPen?

    By the way, I think tachycardia was actually on a test we did. I thought the roots we're learning would help me out more than they actually have. I'm kind of disappointed by the fact that there have been very few instances where I have benefited from learning them except for some Academic Olympic questions. Sometimes it seems like half of the roots were designed just for medical terminology, so that should continue to be an immense help to you.

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