In this video we’re walking through the signs and symptoms of sepsis and the critical thinking behind it. So you won’t need to memorize a list of symptoms of sepsis for your nursing school exam, but you’ll actually understand the critical thinking behind it.
Sepsis Pathophysiology:
Sepsis is an infection in your body that leads to the body amounting an immune response, and it can eventually causes organ dysfunction.
This immune response causes 3 things to occur:
- Capillary leak
- Vasodilation
- Blood clotting
And all 3 of those things lead to a lack of blood flow to the organs, which causes the organs to be quite unhappy and not function properly. So during sepsis, your organs are not getting the blood flow they need so they stop working properly.
Signs and Symptoms of Sepsis:
Increased heart rate: When the organs don’t get enough blood flow, the heart wants to balance it out and help them get more blood. So the heart is going to pump faster, which is why there is an increase in heart rate during sepsis.
Increased respiratory rate: Blood carries oxygen. And when the organs don’t get blood, they don’t get oxygen. The lungs recognize this and try to balance that by increasing the respiratory rate and getting more oxygen.
Decreased Blood pressure: To understand what is happening with blood pressure, think back to what happens during the inflammatory response: there is capillary leak and vasodilation. Capillary leak is where fluid from you little blood vessel (capillaries) move into the surrounding tissues, so it moves outside of the blood vessel. So fluid is going to move from the blood into the surrounding tissues. So there’s not as much fluid in the blood vessels. This will decrease blood pressure, simply because there’s not as much fluid in the blood vessels as there was before. Less volume equals lower pressure. There is also vasodilation, which means that the blood vessels are dilating, causing less pressure, which causes the blood pressure to drop.
Fever: As the body is working harder to fight the pathogen, it’s going to cause the body temperature to rise. The body is having to work harder to fight off the bad guy pathogens. So that could lead to things like fever and clammy skin.
Chills or shivering: It’s like the body can’t keep up with itself, so as the body temperature rises, you actually feel cooler because your whole body hasn’t quite caught up to the higher temperature, which causes those chills and shivering.
Mental Status Changes and Decreased Urine Output: The brain and kidneys are not getting the blood flow they need to function, so they stop working like they should.
Remember…critical thinking for sepsis is KEY!
As a nurse it is important to not only recognize the signs and symptoms of sepsis, but to fully understand the critical thinking behind it and WHY those are happening.
You are going to do great, friend. I know that was a lot of information to take in but you’ve got this!
SEPSIS CHEAT SHEET: https://nursingsos.com/sepsis
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Intro
0:55 Signs and symptoms overview
1:26 Why they occur
2:38 Increased heart rate and increased respiratory rate
3:41 Decreased blood pressure
4:38 Fever and clammy skin
5:09 Chills or shivering
5:29 Mental status changes and decreased urine output
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
In this video we’re walking through the signs and symptoms of sepsis. After this video, you’ll know what the common signs and symptoms are and WHY they happen. So you won’t need to memorize a list of symptoms for your nursing school exam, but you’ll actually understand the critical thinking behind it.
Because when was the last time your nursing exam tested you on how well you memorize things?
Like, never.
So that’s why we walk through the critical thinking behind it all. So you’ll be a lot more confident for your sepsis exam after watching this video.
And of course, I have a free cheat sheet for you so you can actually remember this stuff. So be sure to stay until the end of the video and I’ll let you know where you can snag that.
Now hit that subscribe button and click the notification bell and let’s dive in.
—
So we’ll make a list of the signs and symptoms of sepsis first, and then we will do a deep dive into each of them and I’ll let you know why each of them occur.
So, the most common signs and symptoms of sepsis are:
- Increased heart rate
- Increased respiratory rate
- Decreased blood pressure
- Fever
- Clammy skin
- Pain
- Chills or shivering
- Mental status changes (like disorientation or confusion)
- Decreased urine output
Okay, so now let’s walk through why each of these things happen.
So to understand why these signs and symptoms occur, we need to know what sepsis is. So we know that sepsis is an infection in your body that leads to the body amounting an immune response, and it eventually causes organ dysfunction, so that’s what sepsis is. And this immune response causes 3 things to occur:
- Capillary leak
- Vasodilation
- Blood clotting
And all 3 of those things leads to a lack of blood flow to the organs, which causes the organs to be quite unhappy and not function properly. So during sepsis, your organs are not getting the blood flow they need so they stop working. If you need a deeper review on the pathophysiology of sepsis, we have a whole video on that, so be sure to check that one out if you need it!
Alright, so we know that the organs aren’t getting the blood that they need, because of the body’s immune response causing capillary leak, vasodilation and blood clotting. So let’s go through the symptoms of sepsis and understand the why behind each of them.
So the first one is an increased heart rate. Now, the number one thing your body craves is balance! I’m sure you feel the same way, balance is good! And when the organs don’t get enough blood flow, your heart wants to balance it out and help them get more blood. So what’s it going to do? It’s going to pump faster, which is why there is an increase in heart rate during sepsis. The organs aren’t getting enough blood because of all the vasodilation, capillary leak, and blood clotting, so the heart tries to get more blood to the organs by increasing the heart rate.
The same goes for the lungs. Blood carries oxygen. And when the organs don’t get blood, they don’t get oxygen. And the lungs see this and say, “Oh no! We need more oxygen, breathe faster please!” and the respiratory rate increases. So when the organs don’t get blood, they don’t get oxygen, and the lungs try to balance that by increasing the respiratory rate and getting more oxygen.
Now let’s talk about blood pressure. What do you think is going to happen with the blood pressure? Well, let’s think back to what happens during the inflammatory response: there is capillary leak and vasodilation. Capillary leak is where fluid from you little blood vessel capillaries moves into the surrounding tissues, so it moves outside of the blood vessel.
So fluid is going to move from the blood into the surrounding tissues. So there’s not as much fluid in the blood vessels. This will decrease blood pressure, simply because there’s not as much fluid in the blood vessels as there was before. There is also vasodilation, which means that the blood vessels are dilating, which also causes the blood pressure to drop. So these 2 factors are going to cause the blood pressure to decrease during sepsis: vasodilation and capillary leak.
We also know that during the immune response, the body is working harder and harder to get rid of the invaders, those pathogens. So as the body is working harder, it’s going to cause the body temperature to rise. It’s like this: what happens when you exercise? Your body temperature goes up and you get all sweaty. That’s what’s happening here. The body is having to work harder to fight off the bad guy pathogens. So that could lead to things like fever and clammy skin.
Another common symptom of sepsis is chills or shivering, which goes along with fever. It’s like the body can’t keep up with itself, so as the body temperature rises, you actually feel cooler because your whole body hasn’t quite caught up to the higher temperature, which causes those chills and shivering.
And now let’s talk about mental status changes and decreased urine output. Do you remember what causes sepsis in the first place? It’s a lack of blood flow to the organs because your body is fighting off an invader, a pathogen. So your organs are not getting blood, meaning your brain and your kidneys aren’t getting blood. And your brain and kidney’s are not going to be happy about that, so you might see mental status changes and decreased urine output, simply because the brain and kidneys are not getting the blood flow they need to function, so they stop working like they should.
Great job, friend. I know that was a lot of information to take in but you’re doing GREAT. Be sure to print off the free sepsis cheat sheet we have for you so you can remember all of this better. The link is in the description below.
And if you liked this video make sure to hit the like button, leave a comment below to let me know you loved it, share it with your friends, and of course click subscribe and hit the bell so you never miss a video.
And click on one of these videos here so you can keep rocking nursing school. And go become the nurse that God created only you to be. I’ll catch you next time on the nursing school show.
