 Welcome to nursing school explain in today's video about hyperglycemia or elevated blood glucose levels. Now typically blood glucose levels greater than 110 milligrams per deciliter are considered hyperglycemia but it'll depend on the facility that you're working at in terms of how they define the level and It will very much depend on the patient and their circumstances to Understand if the patient needs treatment doesn't need treatment if we can just observe and so on But let's look at the details here. So typically what causes hyperglycemia Can be illness and infection all those things that drive up our immune system and the stress response Medications in particular steroids are known to drive up blood glucose levels So the patients that are maybe already diabetic or chronically ill and our own steroids We need to keep a close eye on them for hyperglycemia stress like I already mentioned and then of course anything where we have an increase in food intake and Or a decrease intake in medications and that might be insulin as well as oral anti-diabetic agents and then for the pathophysiology so usually when we intake glucose or sugar Insulin is released from the pancreas and is broken down and driven into the cells to be used for our metabolism to maintain Homeostasis and life but when there is not enough insulin to break down glucose Then that glucose just swirls around in the in the bloodstream and we're unable to drive it into the cells to use it for energy So signs and symptoms are going to be the three P's and I forgot to do my Red important thing here and the three P's of hyperglycemia a polyuria increased urination Polyphasia increased hunger and polydipsia increased thirst And that all has to do with that glucose not being able to be utilized by the cells So we're gonna pee a lot because this urine the the glucose has large molecules and they kind of create this osmotic Diarrheses polyphasia will hungry although we have a lot of glucose in the bloodstream But the patient is going to be hungry because our glucose cannot be used So then they get hungry and they take in more glucose which kind of can become this vicious cycle and then Polydipsia because of all this urination We lose a lot of fluid and so the patient is going to be very thirsty trying to compensate for that In addition because of not being able to utilize the glucose the patient will be weakened They might have a headache they might be nauseous and or vomiting and they might have vision changes because they're not able to use the glucose in the brain and specifically in patients who are diabetic it can lead to DKA diabetic ketoacidosis or HHS hyperglycemic hyper osmolar Syndrome and because these conditions are very important to know about I have separate videos that are put in the link below so that you can Watch those if you're interested in learning more about those conditions So the treatment is checking the blood sugar to know where we're at For the patient to take all medications as prescribed and certainly if they're hospitalized We have a big role in that department We're gonna go into give the insulin or the patient at home to take their insulin as prescribed Stay hydrated because there is a chance of Dehydration and then the blood sugar goes even higher Check the urinalysis for ketones because when the body is unable to to utilize the glucose That's floating around in the bloodstream it looks for different sources of energy and it starts to break down protein and fat and The the byproduct are ketones that are then going to be excreted in the urine And then of course the patient to seek medical care if needed if the blood sugar is up if they're taking steroids if they're feeling unwell So these are for inpatients as well as home care Now for nursing care We certainly need to check the patient's blood sugar vigorously Especially if we know that they are at risk from these conditions that we discussed over here We need to know the patient's medications what they're on their dosages how much food they're taking in and what? Particular diet they're on and I want to also encourage you to watch the family members What kind of food they might be bringing into the hospital because the patient might be on a diabetic diet But if the patient's family brings in foods that are not appropriate for this because they Want their patient to feel better to get better and they bring in foods that are high they have a high glycemic index Then we need to be aware of that to educate the patient and their family But as well to maybe adjust their dosages according to whatever their intake is Certainly we need to give their medications as scheduled and that those are the oral Antidiabetic agents as well as insulin and then advocate for medication Changes as needed if we notice the patient is continuously at a high level Then we need to adjust the medications to bring that level down to prevent any complications and then educate patient as family as I already discussed Please also check out the video about hypoglycemia, which is a much more dangerous situation That occurs kind of quickly and we also need to know how to take care of our patients if that occurs Also, check out my youtube channel on the different types of insulin and these two complications that we discussed Thanks for watching and see you soon