NCLEX-RN Addison vs Cushing Cheat Sheet (Free Printable)

Preparing for the NCLEX-RN, you will meet Addison's disease and Cushing syndrome side by side, and they are easy to mix up because they are opposites built on the same hormone: one is a cortisol deficit, the other a cortisol excess. This cheat sheet puts the two in separate columns, red for Addison's and gold for Cushing's, and lines them up so you can compare category by category: blood pressure, skin changes, fat distribution, glucose and electrolytes, mood, the lab and imaging tests that confirm each diagnosis, and the treatments. The exam tests this pair because safe care depends on telling a deficit from an excess, and on the rules that come with each: lifelong corticosteroid plus mineralocorticoid for Addison's that you never skip, hydrocortisone injected at once in an adrenal crisis, and a slow taper rather than an abrupt stop when Cushing's comes from prednisone.

Use the sheet actively. Read both columns, cover one, and recall it from the other; pay attention to the colored tabs so the two conditions stop trading places in your memory. And remember the sheet's own disclaimer: values and protocols vary, so follow your facility policy and provider orders.

Word count: 195.

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Values and protocols vary - follow your facility policy and provider orders.

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