Knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology is MOST important during the

Why Learning Anatomy and Physiology is Important for LPNs

Anatomy and Physiology are one of the most prominent and crucial subjects of medical and nursing education. Without studying these essential topics, no doctor, nurse or physician can work & function in the medical and healthcare sector.

Anatomy is basically the study of structure, framing, and the relationship between body parts. Physiology, on the other hand, is the branch of medical science that deals with the study of functions of body parts as a whole.

Various medical schools conduct several anatomy and physiology classes or commonly called as A&P Class to make students familiar with the human body and how it operates in reality.

These anatomy and physiology classes make students understand these basic following points:-

• The functions of the human body
• The framework of body parts
• Location of various organs
• Location of cells and tissues
• Knowledge regarding body systems like the nervous system, respiratory system, digestive system, reproductive system, etc.
• Understandings regarding various bones and joints, and a lot more.

There are various reasons due to which an A&P Class is a must for LPNs. Some of the prominent ones are as follows:-

Fundamental Knowledge
Anatomy and Physiology provide basic knowledge about the human body. It helps in clearing the fundamental concepts as to how our bodies function.

Theoretical & Practical Knowledge
With the help of the classes of anatomy and physiology, one gets to learn not only the theoretical concepts but practical functionalities of the human body too. It is not only a theory-based subject of science but a practical-oriented subject too.

Conditions of Emergencies
Knowing human anatomy helps in cases of emergencies as well. In the absence of supervising doctors or nurses, LPNs are the ones who are supposed to take care of patients in emergencies. To cope with such situations, an LPN should be familiar with the concepts of anatomy and physiology which can, ultimately, prove to be of great help.

Tracking of Patient’s Health
Anatomy and Physiology education help in understanding the health status of patients. It helps in assessing, evaluating, diagnosing and tracking a patient’s health. The theories of this subject assist in comprehending the overall condition of the human body.

Improves Medical & Clinical Skills
Having apt learning about human anatomy helps in improving and polishing the medical and clinical skills & competencies of LPNs. Since these, both topics are quite integral to medical science, they help LPNs in becoming a well-skilled nurse.

Quick Recognition & Analysis of the Cause of Illness
When an LPN is familiar with the fundamentals of human anatomy, he/she can promptly recognize and analyze a patient’s cause and roots of illness. These significant topics of science assist an LPN to examine a patient’s health condition quickly and make them take the correct decision at the right time.

Thus, because of these notable reasons, anatomy and physiology prove to be of great importance in the nursing education of LPNs.

So, if you are looking forward to joining an anatomy and physiology course near me or searching for anatomy classes near me, you can consider enrolling in Verve College. We provide accredited A&P Prep Courses that can help you master the skills and knowledge of human anatomy.

Become a part of the noble nursing arena with Verve College and embark upon a successful LPN journey.

Anatomy and pathophysiology frame what ET students will experience in the clinical setting

The EMS1 Academy features "Module 14: Critical Thinking and Clinical Decision Making," a one-hour accredited course for emergency services personnel. Visit the EMS1 Academy for more information.

“No plan survives first contact with the enemy.” — Helmuth von Moltke

Back in October, partner Nancy Magee and I began the experiment in experiential learning that is EMT 360. The basic premise was that clinical experience comes too late in traditional EMS education programs, leaving new graduates to polish their craft and put their classroom education into context through on-the-job training.

The problem with that approach is that experience on the job is only beneficial if it’s good experience. Too often, new EMTs get partnered with the medic who has an opening on her truck, and the reason that they always have an opening is that nobody else is willing to work with them. That’s the problem with experience as a teacher in our field: often your only context comes from a partner who is more cautionary tale than mentor; the type of medics I refer to as having one year of experience repeated 25 times.

When you’re new and inexperienced, it’s difficult to separate good practices from bad, and you’re particularly susceptible to believing it when some lazy burnout proclaims, “There’s the way it’s done in class, kid, and there’s the way it’s done on the street.”

As author Stewart Stafford puts it, “Separate text from context and all that remains is a con.”

Pathophysiology and EMT experience

Hence, EMT 360. We’d start clinical rotations in Week Three, and graduate students with hundreds of patient contacts and a wealth of exposure to different philosophies and disciplines of providing patient care. We’d discuss their weekly clinical contacts in class and provide the context for why and how different providers render care. They’d shadow ED and nursing home nurses, paramedics and respiratory therapists, and hit the streets well-seasoned, but not salty.

And all that would have come to fruition if our students had actually gotten the volume of clinical context we envisioned. Right before class started, three of our main clinical sites changed ownership, and the resultant management restructuring necessitated a renegotiation of clinical contracts, and all the delays and headaches such negotiations entail. Our students started clinical rotations a good two and a half months later than we intended, resulting in the quote that begins this article.

Lacking the clinical context we envisioned the students bringing to weekly classes, we had to shift to a much more traditional classroom format. Two things we did differently in EMT 360: we started clinical shifts in the beginning of class, and we shifted in-depth pathophysiology towards the end. The first is an idea we’re still convinced will work, and we’ll stick with it in our next course.

Shifting pathophysiology until later in the course was a mistake, however. Students lacked the in-depth understanding of disease processes and cellular pathophysiology to provide context for what they saw in the clinical setting. We set out to teach “how” first, hoping that “why and when” would come with clinical experience.

Well, when the clinical experience is lacking, what you wind up with is students who know how to perform psychomotor skills but not why, or even more importantly, why not. That in itself is not so bad – lots of EMT programs graduate students like this – but it’s not how I like to teach.

Still, it’s a fixable problem. Right now, students are getting clinical experience every week, and each student has to devise a scenario based upon one of the patients he or she has encountered. We predicted that the students would devise increasingly complex and nuanced scenarios, and that their cohorts would become increasingly adept at managing the scenario. We’re seeing that now; each scenario lab results in stronger performances than the last. Rather than the “lightbulb moments” my students experienced in previous classes, these students are on a dimmer switch. They’ll graduate not quite as strong as we had hoped, but still more knowledgeable and experienced than those who’ve taken courses we’ve done in the past.

So when you delve into experiential learning in your courses, remember the importance of context in what you teach. It can’t be several hours of war stories each night – the students need more context than you alone can provide – but they at least need to develop the knowledge in class necessary to understand what they see in the field. Hit the anatomy and the pathophysiology hard, and when they go to the nursing home, hospital or ambulance, they’ll be better equipped to distinguish the war stories they hear from the fairy tales.

Listen for more

How EMT 360 introduces students to patients earlier

In this episode, our co-hosts discuss the EMT 360 program which provides students the opportunity to interact with patients earlier in their educational path

This article was originally posted May 1, 2020. It has been updated.

About the author

Kelly Grayson, NRP, CCP, is a critical care paramedic in Louisiana. He has spent the past 24 years as a field paramedic, critical care transport paramedic, field supervisor and educator. He is president of the Louisiana Society of EMS Educators and a board member of the LA Association of Nationally Registered EMTs.

He has an Associate of General Studies degree from Louisiana State University at Eunice, Nunez Community College. Kelly has been recognized as the 2016 Louisiana Paramedic of the Year, 2002 Louisiana EMS Instructor of the Year and 2002 Louisiana AHA Regional Faculty of the Year, and with the 2012 Maggie Award for Best Regularly Featured Web Column/Trade and the 2014 Folio Eddie Award for Best Online Column.

He is a frequent EMS conference speaker and contributor to various EMS training texts, and is the author of the popular blog A Day In the Life of an Ambulance Driver, "En Route: A Paramedic's Stories of Life, Death and Everything In Between," and "On Scene: More Stories of Life, Death and Everything In Between." You can follow him on Twitter (@AmboDriver), Facebook, LinkedIn, or email him at . Kelly is a member of the EMS1 Editorial Advisory Board.