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Nursing Field Notes / GI · Med Surg: Gastrointestinal

Hepatitis 🦠

NG-040 GI ADHD-friendly visual edition

An inflammatory condition of the liver, commonly caused by a viral infection. Hepat = liver, -itis = inflammation. There are 5 types, but the most tested are B & C.

📄 Simple Nursing original — opens in Drive →

🔤 Vowels from the bowelsA & E = fecal-oral (food & water).
🩸 B · C · D = body fluidsBlood, sex, IV drugs, tattoos, razors.
💛 ↑ Bilirubin = the yellow trioJaundice · dark urine · clay-colored stools.
🛏️ Biopsy → RIGHT sideLay on the right side to prevent bleeding.
🦠

CAUSE

STEP 1 · HOW IT GETS IN

Two doors into the liver: what you swallow, and what gets into your blood.

🚪 The two doors — transmission routes of A · B · C · D · E

FECAL–ORAL 🚽 ➜ 👄 A Contaminated FOOD 🍽️ “A – Anus to mouth” E Contaminated drinking WATER 💧 “E – E. Coli water” BLOOD & BODY FLUIDS 🩸 B Blood & body fluids ⭐ most tested (with C) C Blood & body fluids treated with antiviral medications D Co-infection with Hep B D never travels alone — it needs B needs B HEPATITIS 🦠 hepat = liver · -itis = inflammation LIVER 🔥 inflamed ⭐ 5 types total — most tested are B & C Non-viral causes: 🍷 Alcohol 🛡️ Autoimmune disease — the body attacks itself 🩸 How B · C · D get in: 💉 IV drug use · 🖋️ tattoos · 📌 body piercings · 🪒 sharing razors · ❤️ unprotected sex FECAL–ORAL 🚽 ➜ 👄 A Contaminated FOOD 🍽️ “A – Anus to mouth” E Contaminated WATER 💧 “E – E. Coli water” BLOOD & BODY FLUIDS 🩸 B Blood & body fluids ⭐ most tested (with C) C Blood & body fluids treated with antivirals D Co-infection with Hep B D needs B — never alone needs B both routes end up in the same place LIVER 🔥 inflamed ⭐ 5 types total — most tested are B & C Non-viral causes: 🍷 Alcohol 🛡️ Autoimmune disease — the body attacks itself 🩸 How B · C · D get in: 💉 IV drug use · 🖋️ tattoos · 📌 body piercings 🪒 sharing razors · ❤️ unprotected sex

🧠 MEMORY TRICK FROM THE SOURCE

  • A – Anus to mouth
  • BC – Blood Cultures & Sex
  • E – E. Coli water (contaminated water)
🧠 New hook: “Vowels come from the bowels.” The vowels A and E are the two you eat and drink — everything else rides in on blood.

🩸 Causes & Risk — BCD

  • BCD = blood & body fluids
  • 💉 IV drug use, 🖋️ tattoos, 📌 body piercings
  • 🪒 Sharing razors
  • ❤️ Unprotected sex
🧠 B·C·D = Blood · Coitus · Drugs. Anything that swaps fluids — needles, ink, blades, sex.

📊 All 5 types side by side HIGH YIELD

TypeTransmission · 🧠 hook💊 Treatment
A 🍽️Fecal-oral (contaminated food)
🧠 “Anus to mouth”		Typically resolves on its own with bed rest
B 🩸⭐Blood & body fluids
🧠 “Blood Cultures & Sex”		Typically resolves on its own with bed rest
C 🩸⭐Blood & body fluids
🧠 “Blood Cultures & Sex”		Treated with antiviral medications
D 🔗Co-infection with Hep B
🧠 D = Duo — it needs B		—
E 💧Fecal-oral (contaminated drinking water)
🧠 “E. Coli water”		—
🧠 “D is a leech.” Hep D can only show up as a co-infection with Hep B — no B, no D.

🍷 Not every hepatitis is a virus

Most cases are viral — but non-viral causes are:

  • 🍷 Alcohol
  • 🛡️ Autoimmune disease — where the body attacks itself

🎯 Common NCLEX Question NCLEX TIP

Modes of transmission for hepatitis C? Select all that apply.
1. Blood · 2. Contaminated water · 3. Fecal oral · 4. Semen · 5. Vaginal secretions
✅ 1 Blood · 4 Semen · 5 Vaginal secretions — C = blood & body fluids.
❌ Water & fecal-oral belong to the vowels A and E.
🔎

CLUES

STEP 2 · WHAT YOU SEE

A sick liver leaks enzymes, backs up bilirubin, and stops making the proteins that hold you together.

🤒 Signs & Symptoms — the flu-ish start

  • 🤕 Headache
  • 🌡️ Fever
  • 😴 Fatigue (malaise)
  • 🤢 N/V — nausea & vomiting
🧠 “Hepatitis Feels like a Flu First.” Headache · Fever · Fatigue · N/V come before the yellow shows up.

💛 The yellow trio + the itch

Elevated bilirubin shows up on the outside:

  • 💛 Jaundice
  • 🧉 Dark colored urine
  • 🧱 Clay color stools “Pale stools”
  • 🌀 Itching “pruritus”
🧠 “Dark pee, pale poo, yellow you.” Bilirubin can't get out through the stool, so it comes out through the skin and urine.

🧪 Lab → sign: what each broken liver job looks like

🧪 THE LAB 👀 THE SIGN IT CAUSES 📈 ALT & AST ↑ elevated liver enzymes Liver cells are inflamed enzymes leak out into the blood 💛 Bilirubin ↑ liver can't clear it Jaundice · dark colored urine clay color “pale” stools · itching “pruritus” ⏱️ PT & aPTT ↑ clotting takes longer 🩹 Bruising blood takes longer to clot 🥚 Albumin ↓ low protein in the blood 🦵 Edema fluid leaks out of the vessels
🧪 THE LAB ➜ 👀 THE SIGN IT CAUSES 📈 ALT & AST ↑ elevated liver enzymes Liver cells are inflamed enzymes leak out into the blood 💛 Bilirubin ↑ liver can't clear it Jaundice · dark colored urine clay color “pale” stools · itching “pruritus” ⏱️ PT & aPTT ↑ clotting takes longer 🩹 Bruising blood takes longer to clot 🥚 Albumin ↓ low protein in the blood 🦵 Edema fluid leaks out of the vessels
🧠 “A · B · C — then A.” ALT/AST ⬆ · Bilirubin ⬆ · Clotting times PT/aPTT ⬆ · Albumin ⬇ — three go up, albumin is the only one that drops.
🧠 Bruise = Blood won't clot. Swell = no Albumin. Two signs, two labs, done.
🎯 Saunders: The nurse is teaching the client with viral hepatitis … this disease is characterized by which specific assessment findings? SATA NCLEX TIP
✅ Jaundice · Clay-colored stools · Elevated bilirubin levels · Dark or tea-colored urine

🔬 Diagnostics: liver biopsy NCLEX TIP

⬇️ Lay on the RIGHT SIDE after a liver biopsy — to prevent bleeding body weight presses down ⬇ LIVER 🛏️ bed right side down → pressure stops bleeding

After procedure → lay on the RIGHT SIDE to prevent bleeding.

Your own body weight becomes the pressure dressing over the biopsied liver.

🧠 “Biopsy? Be RIGHT.” Right side down — lie on the liver.

🚨 Complications — where this can end up

  • 💥 Acute liver failure
  • 🪨 Cirrhosis
  • 🎗️ Liver cancer
  • 🫗 Gallbladder issues
🧠 “Failure, Scar, Cancer, Gall.” The liver's four bad endings — the reason the teaching in CARE actually matters.
🩺

CARE

STEP 3 · TREAT & TEACH

Most of this exam content is patient teaching — rest, feed, protect, and stop poisoning the liver.

✅ Education — the 5 things you teach every hepatitis client

1
🍽️ Small frequent meals to prevent nausea
Low protein (all liver disease) · Low fat foods (until nausea subsides)
2
😴 Frequent rest periods
3
❤️ Protected sex!
4
🚫 AVOID drinking alcohol / Acetaminophen (Tylenol) NCLEX TIP
5
🪒 AVOID sharing shaving razors, toothbrushes
🧠 The 5 S's: Small meals · Sleep (rest) · Safe sex · Skip alcohol & Tylenol · Stop sharing razors & toothbrushes.

💊 Treatments — it depends on the letter

  • A & B — typically resolves on its own with bed rest 🛏️
  • C — treated with antiviral medications 💊
🧠 “A & B go to Bed — C gets the Cure.” C = the one with the antiviral.

❌ The never-do list

NEVER drink alcohol 🍷 — a second hit on an already inflamed liver.

NEVER take acetaminophen (Tylenol) 💊 NCLEX TIP

NEVER share razors or toothbrushes 🪒🪥 — tiny amounts of blood carry B, C & D.

🎯 Common NCLEX Questions NCLEX TIP

🍽️ Saunders — acute-phase diet
The nurse should incorporate which dietary plan to ensure optimal nutrition … during the acute phase of hepatitis? SATA
✅ Consume multiple small meals throughout the day
✅ Allow the client to select foods that are most appealing
✅ Eliminate fatty foods from the meal trays until nausea subsides
🌀 The itch
A client is admitted with hepatitis and complains of constant itching. What interventions would the nurse recommend? SATA
1. Apply a moisturizer · 2. Avoid the sun · 3. Apply a cold compress · 4. Apply a hot pad
✅ 1 Moisturizer · 2 Avoid the sun · 3 Cold compress
❌ 4 Hot pad — heat makes “pruritus” worse.
🪥 Personal living
A client has hepatitis … What advice should the nurse include regarding personal living?
Do not share personal care products — razors, toothbrushes.
🧠 “Cool & creamy — skip the steamy.” For the itch: cold compress + moisturizer soothe it; heat and sun stoke it.
⚡

QUICK RECALL

SAY IT OUT LOUD
🔤 A & E from the bowelsFecal-oral: food (A) & water (E).
🩸 B · C · D = blood & fluidsD only comes as a co-infection with B.
🧪 ⬆ALT/AST ⬆Bili ⬆PT/aPTT ⬇AlbuminBruising = clotting; edema = albumin.
🖐️ The 5 S'sSmall meals · Sleep · Safe sex · Skip alcohol/Tylenol · Stop sharing.
🎯 Cover & check — 4 rapid-fire questions
Q1: Which hepatitis types come from contaminated food and water?
A and E — fecal-oral. “Vowels from the bowels.”
Q2: Hep D shows up on the lab report. What else must be there?
Hepatitis B — D is a co-infection with Hep B.
Q3: Which position after a liver biopsy, and why?
Lay on the RIGHT side — to prevent bleeding.
Q4: Two things the client must absolutely avoid?
Alcohol and acetaminophen (Tylenol) — plus no sharing razors or toothbrushes.
📌

STUDY SHEETS

FROM YOUR SAVED SET
Hepatitis A through E in one table — how each spreads, who is at risk, which become chronic, which have a vaccine, and the NCLEX clue for each.
Hepatitis A through E in one table — how each spreads, who is at risk, which become chronic, which have a vaccine, and the NCLEX clue for each. — swipe it sideways if it is cut off, or tap to open it full size.

Saved study graphics from your own collection. Each one is someone else’s work — check anything clinical against your course materials before you rely on it.