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Straight A Nursing: Study for nursing school exams & NCLEX

Maureen Osuna, MSN, RN - Nursing school educator, author, and nursing student enthusiast.
Straight A Nursing: Study for nursing school exams & NCLEX
Latest episode

582 episodes

  • Straight A Nursing: Study for nursing school exams & NCLEX

    #520: MMM - Compartment Syndrome: Risk Factors and Early Signs

    19/10/2026 | 7 mins.
    By the time pulses disappear in compartment syndrome, real damage has already happened. In the episode, I'm talking about the window before that, because that's where you actually have a chance to catch it before the patient suffers serious consequences. Hit play to review who is most at risk, the two most reliable early cues, and the practical takeaway to help you catch compartment syndrome early.

    ___________________

    ⁠Nursing School Survival Blueprint⁠ - Feeling overwhelmed or unsure how to approach nursing school? Download this free Blueprint to understand exactly what's working against you — and what to do instead.

    Straight A Nursing Study Resources⁠⁠ - ⁠Check out everything Straight A Nursing has to offer, including free resources and online courses to help you succeed!

    💕Did you love this episode? Please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode!

    ___________________

    The information, including but not limited to, audio, video, text, and graphics contained on this podcast are for educational purposes only. No content on this podcast is intended to guide nursing practice and does not supersede any individual healthcare provider's scope of practice or any nursing school curriculum. Additionally, no content on this podcast is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

    Straight A Nursing is a proud member of the Airwave Media Network.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
  • Straight A Nursing: Study for nursing school exams & NCLEX

    Components of the BMP - ENCORE! #303

    15/10/2026 | 21 mins.
    The Basic Metabolic Panel (BMP) is one of the most common lab tests ordered for your patients. This episode breaks down the 8 components of the BMP, which are sodium, potassium, calcium, chloride, carbon dioxide, glucose, BUN and creatinine.

    You can read the article "The BMP Decoded" ⁠here⁠.

    Get the framework that makes nursing school concepts feel more manageable with my free Nursing School Survival Blueprint. In it, I walk you through:

    - the key shifts that separate struggling students from thriving ones,

    - how to study with intention,

    - how to reduce cognitive load in real study sessions, and

    - how to build the kind of understanding that actually shows up on your exams and in clinical.

    Take control of your nursing school experience with this free Blueprint as your guide. 👉 Download the Blueprint

    I'm cheering for you!

    This is a throwback to episode 303 of the Straight A Nursing School Podcast, where nursing school help is at your fingertips with hundreds of episodes covering your journey from taking the TEAS through passing NCLEX and having success as a new-grad nurse.

    💕Did you love this episode? Please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode!

    ___________________

    The information, including but not limited to, audio, video, text, and graphics contained on this podcast are for educational purposes only. No content on this podcast is intended to guide nursing practice and does not supersede any individual healthcare provider's scope of practice or any nursing school curriculum. Additionally, no content on this podcast is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

    Straight a Nursing is a proud member of the Airwave Media Network.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
  • Straight A Nursing: Study for nursing school exams & NCLEX

    #519: MMM - Three Types of Hyponatremia

    12/10/2026 | 7 mins.
    Your patient has low sodium, what should you assess before you react to that sodium value and why? The answer to this trips up a lot of students and new nurses.

    You should assess volume status before reacting to a sodium value, because hyponatremia actually breaks down into three different patterns, and each one points to a different cause and a different fix. Hit play on this short episode where I review the three types of hyponatremia, including their causes and fixes.

    For a more in-depth dive into the causes, signs & symptoms, and treatments of hyponatremia, listen to episode 17.

    ___________________

    ⁠Nursing School Survival Blueprint⁠ - Feeling overwhelmed or unsure how to approach nursing school? Download this free Blueprint to understand exactly what's working against you — and what to do instead.

    Straight A Nursing Study Resources⁠⁠ - ⁠Check out everything Straight A Nursing has to offer, including free resources and online courses to help you succeed!

    💕Did you love this episode? Please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode!

    ___________________

    The information, including but not limited to, audio, video, text, and graphics contained on this podcast are for educational purposes only. No content on this podcast is intended to guide nursing practice and does not supersede any individual healthcare provider's scope of practice or any nursing school curriculum. Additionally, no content on this podcast is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

    Straight A Nursing is a proud member of the Airwave Media Network.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
  • Straight A Nursing: Study for nursing school exams & NCLEX

    #518: Noncardiogenic Pulmonary Edema for Nursing Students

    08/10/2026 | 30 mins.
    Picture this: You're a nurse in the PACU and are receiving a patient who is a 34 year old male with a past medical history of obesity and loud snoring reported by his spouse. Although he does not have diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea, you suspect it. He was given general anesthesia with some ketamine mixed in during an elective septoplasty.

    Once he gets to the PACU, he has a rapid onset of significant respiratory distress. His SpO2 is dropping even with supplemental oxygen, he has pink frothing sputum, and diffuse crackles bilaterally. What's going on with this guy? How serious is this?

    In this episode, I'm breaking down noncardiogenic pulmonary edema, including:

    - Pathophysiology and common causes

    - Two types of negative-pressure pulmonary edema (NPPE), which is the cause you'll see most often in the OR or PACU

    - Who is most at risk for NPPE

    - Nursing care for patients with noncardiogenic pulmonary edema using the Straight A Nursing LATTE method which includes common signs and symptoms, priority assessments, key tests utilized to evaluate the condition, treatments, and follow-up education

    - A side-by-side breakdown of cardiogenic pulmonary edema vs noncardiogenic pulmonary edema with references to the patient mentioned above and the patient mentioned in episode #515, so you'll walk away knowing exactly how to quickly tell these two conditions apart at the bedside

    If you've ever looked at a patient with crackles and hypoxemia and immediately thought "heart failure," this episode is going to change how you approach that assessment.

    Episodes mentioned:

    #515: Cardiogenic Pulmonary Edema

    #137: The Basics of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)

    To thrive in nursing school, you need a study system that helps concepts like this actually stick, instead of just memorizing lists of symptoms. I get you started building that system in my free Nursing School Survival Blueprint. 👉 Download the Blueprint

    💕Did you love this episode? Please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode!

    ___________________

    The information, including but not limited to, audio, video, text, and graphics contained on this podcast are for educational purposes only. No content on this podcast is intended to guide nursing practice and does not supersede any individual healthcare provider's scope of practice or any nursing school curriculum. Additionally, no content on this podcast is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

    Straight A Nursing is a proud member of the Airwave Media Network.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
  • Straight A Nursing: Study for nursing school exams & NCLEX

    #517: MMM - Vasopressors, Part One: Norepinephrine and Epinephrine

    05/10/2026 | 8 mins.
    Vasopressors such as norepinephrine and epinephrine intimidate a lot of new nurses. In this episode I'm breaking down norepinephrine and epinephrine, including how they work and are administered, and importantly, how to avoid mixing them up when it counts.

    If you're in pharmacology and found this episode helpful, my audio-based program Fast Pharmacology is right up your alley! With over 100 lessons, each 5 minutes or less, you'll master pharm concepts in minutes and gain confidence in clinical. Learn more about Fast Pharmacology⁠.

    ⁠⁠Nursing School Survival Blueprint⁠⁠ - Just starting school and trying to figure out how to juggle it all? Nursing school gets easier when you have a system to help you identify what to focus on as you study, and to connect the dots so you can see that bigger picture. I get you started building that system in my free Nursing School Survival Blueprint. Follow this free Blueprint and take control of your nursing school experience. I'm cheering for you!

    💕Did you love this episode? Please take a moment to follow or subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode!

    ___________________

    The information, including but not limited to, audio, video, text, and graphics contained on this podcast are for educational purposes only. No content on this podcast is intended to guide nursing practice and does not supersede any individual healthcare provider's scope of practice or any nursing school curriculum. Additionally, no content on this podcast is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

    Straight A Nursing is a proud member of the Airwave Media Network.
    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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About Straight A Nursing: Study for nursing school exams & NCLEX
In this show, Maureen Osuna, MSN, RN (Nurse Mo) breaks down a wide range of nursing school concepts so they’re easy to understand. Each episode aims to help nursing students improve their study techniques, pass nursing school exams, and feel more confident in clinical. If you’re nervous about nursing school, not “getting it” in lecture, or feeling overwhelmed with all the information you have to learn, this podcast will help you optimize your study time so you can learn more with less stress. While nursing school is challenging, it doesn’t have to be impossible. When concepts are explained in a way that “just makes sense”, nursing students have better recall on exams, feel more confident working with patients in clinical, and are better prepared for NCLEX. Nurse Mo understands the struggles nursing students face and draws on more than 11 years of clinical experience to make nursing school less intimidating. Each episode removes the “fluff” and focuses on the key things a nursing student (and nurse) needs to know about a variety of disease conditions. The show also provides tips for succeeding in nursing school, guidance for students and new nurses, and insider information to help you excel at the bedside.
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