Mnemonics - Flu

The FACTS tell you when it's the flu, not just a cold:

Fever spike
Aches
Chills
Tiredness
Sudden symptoms

Mnemonics - Ear and Eye

AD - right ear
AS - left ear
AU - both ears

OD - right eye
OS - left eye
OU - both eyes

Here is the USA, we Drive on the Right side of the road and Switch lanes to pass on the Left.

There are 2 of Us.


O is for optical and A is for auditory.

Mnemonics - Blood flow through heart valves

One quick and easy way to remember the path blood takes through the valves of the heart:

TRIPS BIAS

TRIcuspid

Pulmonary

Semilunar

BIcuspid

Aortic

Semilunar

Note that it's the two "cuspids" that are represented by more than one letter. Usefully, the TRIcuspid takes 3 letters while the BIcuspid takes 2. If you remember that, you won't get tripped up trying to remember extra, imaginary valves! :-D

Mnemonics - Cranial Nerves

Ah yes, my introductory post mentioned cranial nerves and that a tip to help memorize them might be forthcoming, so here it is! Well, here *they* are - a couple of the nerves may be referred to by a couple of names, depending on your facility and, well, how long ago your teacher went to nursing school. :)

 First, the boring list....

(I) Olfactory, (II) Optic, (III) Occulomotor, (IV) Trochlear, (V) Trigeminal, (VI) Abducent, (VII) Facial, (VIII) Vestibulocochlear (formerly Auditory),  (IX) Glossopharyngeal, (X) Vagus, (XI) Accessory (sometimes Spinal Accessory), (XII) Hypoglossal

If you take the first letter of each nerve, in order, you get OOOTTAFVGVAH - or OOOTTAFAGVAH if you use Auditory instead of Vestibulocochlear. Doesn't help much, does it? No, it doesn't, so nurses over the years have come up with memory tricks to keep it all straight. Memorization is hard enough for many people, so don't re-invent the wheel on this. Use the wisdom of those who have already been where you are now!

On

Old

Olympus' 

Towering

Top,

A

Friendly

Viking       (Vestibulocochlear)

Grew

Vines

And

Hops

Orange

Orangutans

Often

Try

To

Avoid

Feeding

Angry        (Auditory)

Gorillas

Very

Ancient

Hotdogs

Oh

Oh

Oh,

To

Touch

And

Feel

Very

Good

Velvet.

Such          (Spinal Accessory)

Heaven!