Hi. I'm Cathy with Level Up RN. This is the first video in our medical-surgical nursing
musculoskeletal system playlist. And throughout this playlist, I will be following along with
our medical-surgical nursing flashcards, which are available on our website LevelUpRN.com. So
this video playlist and our flashcard deck are intended to help you learn the most important
facts and concepts you need to know to be successful in nursing school and in your nursing
practice. If you do have our flashcards, be sure to pay close attention to the bold, red items on
those flashcards because those are going to be particularly important facts for you to know.
Also, these video playlists and these cards are helpful for both RN students as well as PN
students. So if you are a practical nursing student, just keep in mind your scope of
practice. At the end of this video and at the end of all the other videos in this playlist,
I'll be giving you guys a little quiz to test your knowledge of some of the
key information I'll be covering in this video. So in this video, I'll be doing an anatomy and
physiology review of the musculoskeletal system. And then in my next video, we will talk about
diagnostic tests for the musculoskeletal system. Key functions of the musculoskeletal system
include movement, structural support, protection of your internal organs, blood cell production,
and storage of minerals. The components of the musculoskeletal system include bones as
well as joints. So this is where two or more bones come together to allow for movement. So
an example of a joint would be your shoulder or your knee, which are examples of synovial joints,
which we will be talking more about here in a minute. Other components of the musculoskeletal
system include skeletal muscles, as well as tendons, which attach muscles to bones, and
ligaments, which attach bones to bones. So if you could remember the phrase bones like bones,
then that will help you remember that bones are attached to other bones through ligaments because
L for likes and L for ligaments. Here's an illustration of a long
bone from our medical-surgical nursing flashcard deck. The outer layer of the bone is the cortex,
which is made up of dense, compact bone tissue. The inner layer of the bone is
comprised of spongy bone tissue, and it contains bone marrow, which is where hematopoiesis occurs,
which is the formation of blood cells. So we have the red bone marrow here in the upper epiphysis,
and that contains stem cells that will become red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets.
Then we have the yellow bone marrow here in the diaphysis, which contains stem cells that
will become cartilage, fat, or bone. So this line here that separates the epiphysis from
the diaphysis is the metaphysis, which contains the epiphyseal plate or the growth plate.
Bone remodeling is a continuous process based on the activity of osteoblast, which are bone-forming
cells, and osteoclast which are bone-destroying cells. So we have a little cool chicken hint here
on the card. Osteoblast equals bone building. So when you see B for blast, think bone building.
There are a number of minerals and hormones to be familiar with that affect bone growth. So calcium
and phosphorus are essential minerals that are needed for bone formation. Vitamin D is needed
for absorption of calcium. So if someone's taking in enough calcium, if they don't have
enough vitamin D, then that calcium is not going to be absorbed readily. Parathyroid hormone or PTH
is a hormone produced by the parathyroid glands. And PTH will bring calcium out of the bones and
into the bloodstream. So it will increase blood calcium levels. Calcitonin is a hormone that
counteracts the activity of PTH. So calcitonin will tone down those blood calcium levels,
and it does this by inhibiting the activity of osteoclast, which are those bone destroying cells.
It also decreases reabsorption of calcium at the kidneys. So again, calcitonin is going to
tone down blood calcium levels. And PTH is going to increase those blood calcium levels. And then
growth hormone will increase bone formation. So it will stimulate the activity of osteoblast,
which are those bone-building cells. All right. Let's now take a look at a joint and
talk about the different components of a synovial joint. Here's an illustration of a synovial joint
from our medical-surgical nursing flashcard deck. So a synovial joint is a freely movable joint
such as the elbow or the knee. And you can see that we have the joint capsule, which surrounds
that synovial joint and is comprised of fibrous connective tissue. Then we have the synovium here,
which is a membrane that lines the joint capsule and secretes synovial fluid, which helps to
provide lubrication and shock absorption at that joint. The joint cavity here is fluid filled,
and it is where the articulating surfaces of the two bones come in contact with each other.
And we have this articular cartilage, which lines the surface of each of the bones in the synovial
joint. The purpose of this articular cartilage is to allow the bones to glide smoothly against each
other. We will be talking about osteoarthritis in another video in this playlist, which is caused by
the wear and tear of this articular cartilage. All right. It's time for your first
musculoskeletal system quiz. I have four questions for you. They are fill-in-the-blank questions.
Question number one. Blank attaches bones to other bones. The answer is ligaments.
Question number two. Blank attaches muscles to bones. The answer is tendons.
Question number three. Bone-forming cells are called blank.
The answer is osteoblasts. Question number four. Bone-destroying
cells are called blank. The answer is osteoclast. Okay. I hope this video has been super helpful.
And if so, be sure to leave me a comment. I love to hear comments from nursing students or nurses
who watch my videos and find them of value. Take care and good luck with studying.