Biochemistry
Biochemistry involves the chemical processes that occur in all living cells and organisms. Biochemistry is crucial to people in understanding how the human body functions in both normal and various disease states. The Krebs Cycle, for example, is a multi-step biochemical process by which the human body (and many other living organisms) produce energy as part of aerobic metabolism. If BSN programs omitted key fundamentals like this, nurses would have no understanding of how such common things as acute and critical illness, trauma, surgery, cardiac arrest, fever, infection, hyperglycaemia, or starvation, for example, affected their patients.
Biochemistry interventions are based on this understanding. In critical care, for instance, people learn how to preserve patients’ energy by spreading cares throughout the day and night. Blood gasses are performed to ensure that patients’ acid- base balance and oxygenation levels are maintained to promote aerobic metabolism. How medications work is directly related to biochemistry. Antibiotics, for example, work on the various microorganisms differently. Some antibiotics kill bacteria outright, by making holes in their cell walls. Others keep bacteria from replicating by disrupting intracellular processes. Many medications given to patients behave differently if blood sugar is grossly elevated or the patient is septic and dependent on anaerobic–rather than aerobic–metabolism. Biochemistry work understand what is going on with patients if they didn’t have a thorough understanding of biochemical processes and principles.