In this episode we're continuing our bloodwork focus - in episode 128 we chatted all about calcium, and today we're turning our attention to its friend-slash-enemy, phosphate.

Phosphate is one of those values most of us glance at, mentally file under 'kidney stuff', and then move on from. And while yes, kidney disease is a really big part of the phosphate story, it's not the whole story.

Phosphate is involved in energy production in every single cell in the body. It helps red blood cells deliver oxygen to the tissues, it keeps muscles (including the diaphragm and the heart) working properly, and when we see levels change dramatically - be that increasing or decreasing - it can have significant consequences for our patients.

It's also a value that can change incredibly quickly in hospitalised patients, often as a direct result of the treatment we're giving them - especially in cases of insulin administration. And because we're the ones in the wards 24/7 closely monitoring these patients, we're often in a really good position to spot those subtle changes early.

I remember the first hypophoshataemic patient I saw - a cat with refeeding syndrome after going missing for 6 months and losing lots of weight. I didn't really understand how it impacted my patient beyond knowing it was a thing - but I remember it being a big faff trying to source the right phosphate, calculate it, and administer it safely.

When we understand how these diseases impact our patients, we can plan nursing care to mitigate it - and know the exact steps to take when caring for them in the ward.

So that's what we'll do in this episode. We'll chat about what phosphate is and how the body keeps it balanced, how to take samples you can actually trust, and then - most importantly - our patients. We'll look at why they become hyper- or hypophosphataemic (including in conditions like DKA and refeeding syndrome), what it does to them, how it's corrected, and how we support them as nurses and technicians.

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Looking for medical nursing CPD?

📲 GET ON THE WAITLIST FOR 2027 ROADSHOW TICKETS: https://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/deep-dive-days

📲 Get unlimited CPD inside the Library Club: http://vimn.thrivecart.com/libraryclub/

📲 Snag a webinar from the on-demand library: https://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/veterinary-education-webinar-library

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More free ways to learn with me:

📲 Grab the show notes and references from today's episode: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/podcast

📲 Follow me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/vetinternalmedicinenursing

🖥️ Learn more about medical nursing: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com

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This podcast does not replace a veterinary surgeon's advice, and its content is provided only for information. A veterinary surgeon must diagnose all conditions, and veterinary nurses and technicians must ensure they work within local legislation and regulating body guidelines at all times. Any products or treatments discussed are for information only and do not constitute endorsements of products or services.

In episode 129 of the Medical Nursing Podcast we're doing something a little different.

I was invited to join Sam and Amy from Vet Solutions on their Focal Point podcast to talk about one of my favourite topics - endoscopy. Sam is a vet, and Amy is a vet nurse (and their account manager for Scotland), so between the three of us we had a pretty good spread of perspectives.

This is part one of a two-part series. In this episode, we go back to basics - the types of scopes you'll come across, what all the kit actually does, how to prepare it, how to handle it, and how to clean and look after it once the procedure's finished.

In part two, we'll look in more detail at the nursing role during the procedure itself - things like anaesthesia, monitoring, assisting and sample collection, and some of the more specialised endoscopy procedures we can get involved in.

So if endoscopy has always felt a bit intimidating, or you've got a scope hiding in a cupboard at work that nobody quite knows how to use, I know you'll get a ton of value from this episode.

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📲 Learn more about Vet Solutions and their Endoscopy Range: https://vet.solutions/en/products/category/veterinary-endoscopy/

📲 Access the Vet Solutions Learning Resources: https://vet.solutions/en/academy/?category_lr=small-animal

📲 Listen to Focal Point: https://vet.solutions/en/focal-point-podcast/

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Looking for medical nursing CPD?

📲 Get unlimited CPD inside the Library Club: http://vimn.thrivecart.com/libraryclub/

📲 Snag a webinar from the on-demand library: https://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/veterinary-education-webinar-library

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More free ways to learn with me:

📲 Grab the show notes and references from today's episode: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/podcast

📲 Follow me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/vetinternalmedicinenursing

🖥️ Learn more about medical nursing: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com

---

This podcast does not replace a veterinary surgeon's advice, and its content is provided only for information. A veterinary surgeon must diagnose all conditions, and veterinary nurses and technicians must ensure they work within local legislation and regulating body guidelines at all times. Any products or treatments discussed are for information only and do not constitute endorsements of products or services.

I'm kicking off a new mini-series on the podcast in this episode, and something we've actually never done before in almost 3 years and 130 episodes!

We're going to spend the next few episodes talking about bloodwork - specifically, the common changes we see, why we see them, and what this all means for us as nurses.

Why? Because too often, we look at our results, feel like we're not quite 100% sure what we're really looking at, and then hand them to the vet for them to make the decisions.

And while yes, it is absolutely their job to make those decisions, there's a TON of nursing information we get from those results too - we just need to know how to decipher them.

So that's what we're going to start doing over the next few episodes - and today we're starting with calcium.

We see this go wrong more often than we think - from patients with cancer, kidney disease, endocrine disease, reproductive disorders, toxin ingestion and much more. And that one little mineral can cause significant, and sometimes even life-threatening, changes for our patients.

I know calcium can feel like one of those topics that's all A&P and lots of boring science, and you're probably expecting your eyes start to glazing over by the second sentence - but stick with me, because I promise you, I'm going to keep the theory to what you actually need to know so you can nurse your patients effectively.

Across the next 30 minutes or so we'll chat about where and how calcium is balanced in the body (and why it goes wrong), the different types of calcium we measure and why, how to take samples that you can actually trust, and then - most importantly - our patients. We'll look at hyper- and hypocalcaemia, what we see, how to nurse these patients, and the skills we need to use in the process.

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Looking for medical nursing CPD?

📲 GET ON THE WAITLIST FOR 2027 ROADSHOW TICKETS: https://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/deep-dive-days

📲 Get unlimited CPD inside the Library Club: http://vimn.thrivecart.com/libraryclub/

📲 Snag a webinar from the on-demand library: https://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/veterinary-education-webinar-library

---

More free ways to learn with me:

📲 Grab the show notes and references from today's episode: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com/podcast

📲 Follow me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/vetinternalmedicinenursing

🖥️ Learn more about medical nursing: http://www.veterinaryinternalmedicinenursing.com

---

This podcast does not replace a veterinary surgeon's advice, and its content is provided only for information. A veterinary surgeon must diagnose all conditions, and veterinary nurses and technicians must ensure they work within local legislation and regulating body guidelines at all times. Any products or treatments discussed are for information only and do not constitute endorsements of products or services.