Good Afternoon Dr. Waldron:

In response to your inquiry, it should be acknowledged that Chemistry relates on a vast amount of levels in nursing. Lewis’s Acid-Base analogy relates to blood gases and ABG interpretations. Hydration and Hydrolysis provides understanding of the very basics of being sufficiently hydrated - or an oveload of fluids (CHF, dialysis. etc) . Thermodynamics,
Thermochemistry, Hess’s Law, The Law of Constant Heat Summation, etc. can be related to shock, hyper/hypo thermia, etc. Electromagnetic Radiation certainly pertains to
MRI’s, Dopplers, X-rays and lasers. These tests are vitally important in determining diagnosis and preventative measures. Take the tragic and nationally known incident which occurred at
Westchester Medical Center (Valhalla, NY) in which an unprepared nurse (it may have been an RN) took a boy into the MRI room with a metal oxygen tank - the tank, upon the effects
of the magnetic force field flew across the room smashing into the little boy’s head instantly killing him. This became a federally focused event and strict laws for all hospitals and
training came into effect. The atrocity of this event speaks for itself, but perhaps if the nurse knew about magnetic properties it may not have occurred. This could be construed
as having the nurse taking the total blame - this is not my contention - it’s simply that for nurses to become optimally prepared and practice as professionals, cetainly more education is
better than less. As the saying goes - People may complain about the cost of education - but compare that to the cost of ignorance. To extrapolate further, holistically, the body
can be reduced to (an example of a 160 lb. person) : 95 lbs. of O2, 38 lbs of carbon, 15 lbs of hydrogen, 4 lbs of nitrogen, 4.5 lbs of Ca+, 6 ounces of CL, 4 ounces of sulphur, 3.5 ounces of K+, 3 ounces of Na-, 1/4 ounce of Fe+, 2.5 ounces of fluorine, 2 ounces of Mg+, 1.5 ounces of silicon, and small traces of arsenic, iodine, and aluminum! This is truly fascinating,
and Chemistry is the basis for it all! In the mental world (holistic - mind, body, spirit), Chemistry plays a vital role in understanding how the mind works - chemical imbalances, drug addictions (hormones, opiate receptors, genetics, DNA/RNA),and mental illness can be rudimentally understood via Chemistry. Spiritually, it becomes more complicated, but researchers such as Dr. Candice Pert and Dr. Michael Ruff to name a few more famous ones have begun to scratch the surface of subconscious/brain/spirit connections - perhaps Caroline
Myss and Louise Hay have defined in more detail the connections between energy fields, illlness,thought patterns, and chemistries within the body producing certain outcomes.
To really think outside the box, think of the chemistry and/or unchemistry between patients and nurses, between nurses and doctors, and between nurses and nurses -what causes these relations to be favorable or unfavorable? hormones, pheromes, stress factors, personality traits? Chemistry is truly one of the sciences in which we need to understand to truly comprehend “the big picture”. Thank you for the opportunity to express these ideas and best of luck in teaaching your class.

Good Afternoon Dr. Waldron:

Sorry, I forgot to mention, in case you wondering, that I have been an RN for 8 years, working mostly in CCU/ICU. Also, I am trying to complete a masteer’s degree in nursing and
have a BS in Psychology. There is no doubt in my mind that Chemistry is vital in providing a greater understanding of nursing as well as life and the universe. Good Luck!

Dear Dr. Waldron,
Do not give up on your nursing students, they have no idea… I would suggest some case studies of ABG’s, ask the students what they would do for these labs and how they would interpret them.
Explain the consequences of their actions on their patients outcome. I guarantee you will have their interest. That student is creating a license for themself that they do not want to lose.
Each day I deal with the effects of unbalanced electrolyte function in septic patients, in the dehydrated patient, in trauma and post surgical patients.
I have medications to administer in IV lines that are incompatible with each other and I need to be aware of why.
The list goes on and on, do not let them get away with not learning you will be doing them a disservice but work it into nurse practice and they wll pay attention.

Thanks for all of your input. Your comments will be very useful as I prepare my chemistry class for nurses. KAW

I am a pre-nursing student, I can assure you… that chemistry is a necessity in any really good worth while prenursing/nursing program. I am currently taking Anatomy and Physiology 1, and ch 2 is you name it!! … Chemistry. The professor is teaching it in a manner like - well you should know this already, and I’m doing a lot of personal extra studying to learn what I need to fully comprehend what is going on. anybody that says chemistry is not needed is for lack of a better word is…lying.

Chemistry is very relevant to nursing for all the great reasons listed above.
I feel that perhaps your nursing students are feeling the way they are is because, in my experience, chemistry is not taught as having relevance to nursing.
When I took it as a pre-nursing student, chemistry didn’t really mean much to me because it was before I had been exposed to any of the nursing classes or concepts.
What I might suggest is have a section of Chemistry for Nurses…and teach the class as the subject matter pertains to nursing. Even if they are pre-nursing students, just knowing a small bit of how the material will relate to their future practice will help them build upon the knowledge you are sharing with them.
As far as what exactly I use in my own practice as an RN…its all integrated. Chemistry is the basis for physiology which is the basis for, well, just about everything else. It all blends together but without the base, the building would topple.
Thank you so much for caring enough about your students that you are willing to go the extra mile to help them learn.

The large research university I attended not only required inorganic chemistry + lab, but also required biochemistry for nursing, without the lab. Anatomy + lab (yes, with a cadaver shared by 6 students) could be taken during the next fall quarter when we were admitted to the School of Nursing. The biochemistry was also taken prior to pharmacology , physiology +lab, and microbiology + lab.

Prior to giving medications we were required to present a paper to the clinical instructor which indicated the pathways which the medicines we were assigned to give, would be working in the body. Each of the clinical units used biochemical pathway posters, so we could study the the effect the diseases were having on the bodies of our patients. Usually these posters were in the chart rooms.

In one case, I was assigned a research medication. We were to know what medication was being studied, even though we would not know if our patient was in fact receiving the medication or the placebo. We were responsible for noting if the patient were having any side-effects the real medication would have and reporting these side effects to the clinical instructor and/or the unit staff.

In order to find out about the medication, I had to make an appointment with the clinical unit supervisory professor, as the intern assigned to the patient and the resident/graduate student (MD/PhD) also did not know about the drug being studied.

I prepared my paper and was given approval to give the medication. Since nursing students were usually only on the clinical unit during the assigned lab hour, I was not aware that my patient had been selected for presentation at Grand Rounds. My patient had requested that I stay with her when these various professors from schools such as Harvard, Yale, Johns Hopkins, Berkeley, Baylor, etc., came to see the patient at the bedside.
They came in in groups of 10 and when our chief of Surgery, (MD, PhD) asked about the medication for the study, the medical student, and intern, could not answer, and the resident/grad student said “ask the nursing student, she knows”…

I thought I would pass out, but I got through it!!! And after this I felt more comfortable reviewing medications with my patients, as when their research studies were over, they would most likely be taking their own medications and would need to know about their intended effect or if they were having side effects. I also was less nervous about asking questions of the medical school professors.

Better nursing through chemistry!

hello Dr. Waldron I am a returning R.N back in school and unfortunately due to the length of time previously in undergrad 13yrs , presently ICU nurse I had to retake chemisty over again, but in spite of srict study habits and reading and rereading I am still find the mastry of chemical concepts diffucult to grasp. Do you have any helpful resources in chicago, perhaps fellow instructors which can perhaps help?

Hi, I’m currently a pre nursing student, future Forensic Nurse, and I was wondering why I need to take chemistry. After reading the responses above It has made me realize that It will help me to get into my career.
I just wanted to say thanks for posting this. A lot of nursing students wonder the importance of chemistry to a nursing degree! We need more teachers, professors like you Thanks Again!!
Sharmeka Johnson 2nd yr. nursing student