Homeostasis is important in nursing because the body mobilizes its fight-or-flight reaction in an attempt to maintain homeostasis. This can result in sweating, breathlessness, rapid heartbeat, shivering, and trembling. The internal equilibrium of the body is the gauge of whether it is functioning properly or not. With homeostasis, the bodyÆs systems are stable and self-perpetuating. Many of the tests that a nurse performs on a patient, such as taking a temperature or a blood pressure, are tests to determine whether the patientÆs body is in homeostasis or in distress. Homeostasis is highly desirable, because it keeps the body functioning as it should be. The body as a homeostatic system maintains its structure and functions by means of:
a multiplicity of dynamic equilibriums rigorously controlled by interdependent regulation mechanisms. Such a system reacts to every change in the environment, or to every random disturbance, through a series of modifications of equal size and opposite direction to those that created the disturbance. The goal of these modifications is to maintain the internal balances (deRosnay, 1997).
If the body cannot maintain its homeostasis, it cannot survive. The altered mode of functioning prompted by a lack of homeostasis will destroy it. Therefore, maintaining the patientÆs homeostasis is one of the paramount objectives of nursing.
The covering and lining epithelia are classified by their thickness and the morphology of the predominant cell type. There are two thickness variantsùthe single-cell thickness composed of just one layer of cells and the multilayered stratified thickness composed of more than one layer of cells. An example of the single-cell thickness is a single-layered simple squamous epithelium, and an example of the multilayered stratified thickness is a multilayered stratified squamous epithelium. Using these criteria, nine types of covering and lining epithelia have been cla...