ICP External Ventricular Drain Monitoring Quiz

Understanding Acute and Chronic Illnesses

• Chronic illness is the primary healthcare issue in the United States, but the healthcare system has been slow to adapt from a focus on acute conditions.
• Acute illnesses usually affect one bodily area and respond well to treatment, while chronic conditions involve multiple systems and have an uncertain future.
• Coping with any health problem is a challenge, with chronic illness requiring more care and resources to maintain a normal lifestyle.
• Nurses play a vital role in helping people with chronic illness and their family caregivers cope with the condition.
• Acute conditions occur suddenly, have immediate symptoms, and are limited in duration, like the flu, while chronic conditions are long-lasting and potentially worsen over time, such as Crohn's disease.
• The terms "acute" and "chronic" can suggest the types and duration of treatment needed for an illness.
• Acute does not mean new, severe, or fatal, but rather that symptoms have developed quickly and require medical intervention, while chronic indicates that the condition is not curable.
• An acute condition can sometimes become chronic, and a chronic condition may suddenly present with acute symptoms.
• Certain infections progress from an acute phase to a chronic phase, lying dormant for years before manifesting with severe acute complications.
• Most chronic diseases can lead to an acute event if left untreated, for example, atherosclerosis leading to a heart attack or stroke.
• Many acute conditions can become chronic or result in chronic symptoms, and labeling an illness as acute or chronic cannot predict outcomes.
• The non-specificity of definitions affects healthcare providers, patients, and researchers, leading to confusion and discrepancies in evaluating the course of a disease.

Human Urinary System Overview

• The human urinary system consists of two kidneys located between the dorsal body wall and parietal peritoneum on both sides.
• Urine formation begins within the functional unit of the kidney, the nephrons, and flows through a system of converging tubules called collecting ducts.
• Urine flows from the renal pelvis into the ureter, transporting urine into the urinary bladder, differing anatomically between males and females.
• The urinary system is covered in a unique lining called urothelium, which can flatten and distend and covers most of the urinary system, including the renal pelvis, ureters, and bladder.
• Functions of the urinary system include regulating blood volume and composition, blood pressure, pH homeostasis, red blood cell production, synthesizing calcitriol, and storing waste products.
• Average urine production in adult humans is about 1–2 liters per day, depending on various factors such as hydration, activity level, and health.
• The kidney receives about 20% of cardiac output and the basic structural and functional unit of the kidney is the nephron.
• The urinary system is regulated by the endocrine system through hormones such as antidiuretic hormone, aldosterone, and parathyroid hormone.
• Urination, or micturition, is the ejection of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra, involving coordination between the central, autonomic, and somatic nervous systems.
• Urologic diseases can involve congenital or acquired dysfunction of the urinary system, and diseases of the kidney tissue are treated by nephrologists, while diseases of the urinary tract are treated by urologists.
• Protein released by the kidneys in diabetes mellitus sensitizes the kidney to the damaging effects of hypertension, showing the direct effect of diseases in other bodily systems on urogenital function.