Arterial blood gases (ABGs) and acid base balance can be really hard to learn in nursing school.
In this video series on arterial blood gases, we’ll dive into the 4 key things you need to know when studying ABGs in nursing school:
1. Metabolic Acidosis
2. Respiratory Acidosis
3. Metabolic Alkalosis
4. Respiratory Alkalosis
In this video, we’ll talk about the 4th one: respiratory alkalosis, and everything you need to know about it for nursing school.
Here’s what we’ll talk about:
1. What is respiratory acidosis?
2. The one main thing you need to know about it to get nursing exam questions right
3. The causes of respiratory alkalosis
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
In this video, we’re talking about respiratory alkalosis so you can finally understand what it means, what causes it, and what you actually need to know about it for nursing school. And before we get started, make sure to hit that subscribe button and click the bell so you never miss any nursing school tips and tricks that I have for you. Now, let’s do it.
So respiratory alkalosis is one of 4 main categories you need to know about when you study arterial blood gases in nursing school: you’ve also got metabolic alkalosis, metabolic acidosis, and respiratory acidosis. We’ll talk about these other 3 in the other videos in this series. So if you want a breakdown of those, be sure to check those other videos out after this.
Respiratory alkalosis simply means ONE thing: the lungs got a little carried away with breathing.
When you see the word RESPIRATORY when it refers to ABGs, I want you to think of the LUNGS. During RESPIRATORY alkalosis, the LUNGS are the problem, and we call them the party poopers. So the lungs are the one’s causing the respiratory alkalosis to occur.
Now, alkalosis means that the blood is more alkaline or basic than normal. It’s more basic than it is acidic. And you can find this out by looking at the pH value on your patient’s arterial blood gas (or ABG) panel.
A normal pH value is between 7.35 and 7.45. When the pH is less than 7.4, it’s more ACIDIC. When the pH is greater than 7.4, it’s more BASIC or ALKALINE.
So during respiratory alkalosis, the blood is more ALKALINE, meaning more basic, so the pH is greater than 7.4.
So here’s what’s happening during respiratory alkalosis: the lungs are getting a little bit carried away with breathing, and they’re giving off too much CO2. If you remember from our previous video on respiratory acidosis, CO2 stands for carbon dioxide, and carbon dioxide is an acid.
Usually, as you breathe, the lungs pull in oxygen, and let out CO2. There needs to be a proper balance of carbon dioxide to help balance the pH level in the blood. Too much carbon dioxide causes the blood to be more acidic, and to little carbon dioxide causes the blood to be more basic or alkaline.
And that’s exactly what’s going on here in respiratory alkalosis: The lungs are letting go of too much carbon dioxide (which means they’re letting go of too much ACID), and this causes the blood to be more basic or alkaline, which causes the pH to increase.
When you interpret arterial blood gas panels (or ABG panels), the number you’re looking for here is the PaCO2. That stands for the partial pressure of carbon dioxide, and it tells you how much CO2 is in the blood.
A normal PaCO2 is between 35 and 45 milimeters mercury. This is a pretty easy one to remember, because it looks just like the normal pH value, just without the 7! So it’s pretty easy to remember: a normal pH value is 7.35 to 7.45, and a normal PaCO2 value is 35 to 45.
Now here’s what nursing instructors really LOVE to test you on: the causes of respiratory alkalosis. And I have good news and bad news for you. The good news is there’s only ONE main underlying cause of respiratory alkalosis, and that is a increase in respiratory rate or hyperventilation.
The bad news is that a whole lotta things can cause an increased respiratory rate: things like fever, pain, mechanical ventilation, panic attacks, and anything else that can leads to hyperventilation.
So, when you’re faced with a nursing school exam question about the causes of respiratory alkalosis, take a breath, put on your critical thinking cap, and remember that the underlying cause of respiratory alkalosis is hyperventilation and losing too much carbon dioxide.
Now, if you’re struggling with how to interpret ABGs and just wish someone would walk you through it, I’ve got free cheat sheet and a video for you where I walk you through arterial blood gas interpretation, step-by-step. I put the link to that cheat sheet and the video in the description for you to check it out.
And if this video helped you understand respiratory alkalosis better, write LOVE in the comments below. I can’t wait to hear from you.
Now go become the nurse that God created only YOU to be. And I’ll see you in the next video.
