#426: The RAAS Pathway: A Key Concept in Nursing
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed trying to piece together how blood pressure, fluid balance, and heart failure meds all connect, this episode is for you. In this lesson, we’re diving into the RAAS pathway, also known as the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and how this one system plays a major role in so many things you’ll encounter in nursing school and beyond.
You’ll learn how RAAS helps regulate systemic vascular resistance and fluid volume, which ultimately impact cardiac output and blood pressure. I’ll walk you through the three main components—renin, angiotensin, and aldosterone—and show you exactly how they interact to keep the body in balance.
We’ll also cover the medications that disrupt this pathway, including ACE inhibitors, ARBs, and aldosterone receptor blockers. These are foundational drugs used to treat hypertension and heart failure, and understanding the pathway gives you a deeper understanding of why and how they work. Plus, we touch on the role of pharmacologic angiotensin II in hypotension and septic shock.
This episode highlights how mastering one system—just one!—can give you a big-picture view of multiple conditions and treatments. It’s a perfect example of what I teach in my free class, How to Thrive in Nursing School Without It Taking Over Your Life. And if you’re ready to keep building that strong foundation, I’ll also tell you how to join me inside Crucial Concepts Bootcamp.
Ready to make the RAAS system finally click? Let’s do it!
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