Poor Fluid Intake in Patients Increases Risks of Hospitalization Response – Description
What are some of the issues older patients get related to poor fluid intake? What are the signs and symptoms and how can they be treated?
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Question: Given the critical role of fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base balance in maintaining overall health, how can nurse practitioners effectively assess and identify subtle imbalances in their patients? What are the key factors to consider when developing individualized treatment plans?
Imbalances in electrolyte levels and acid-base balance demonstrate the disintegration of respiratory, renal, neurological, and hormonal functions. The consequences of these functional disintegrations include excess or deficient fluid volume due to impaired electrical activities in the muscle and nerve cells (Rogers, 2022). In this regard, nurse practitioners can effectively assess and identify small imbalances in fluid volume, electrolyte levels, and acid-base imbalance through a combination of laboratory results and objective assessment data. Specifically, high blood pressure and respiratory rate, low oxygen saturation, headaches, bounding or weak thready pulses, shortness of breath, respiratory distress, elevated urine specific gravity, decreased urine output, and unintended weight loss or gain are indicators of these imbalances. Also, elevated serum osmolarity, hematocrit, blood urea nitrogen, elevated acid-base gravity, and elevated or reduced levels of serum sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, and phosphorus from laboratory results are efficacious for detecting imbalances in electrolyte and acid-base balance in patients across the life span. Hence, nurse practitioners must combine their abnormal physical assessment findings with laboratory results to ensure the accuracy and effectiveness of diagnosis of imbalances in fluid, electrolytes, and acid-base balance.
Furthermore, some factors are used to create and implement individualized treatment plans for patients with these imbalances. Age is one of the pathophysiological factors that are used to determine individualized care plans due to its varying effects on organ function, excretion rate, and fluid loss or retention (Rogers, 2022). Also, consideration is given to the patient’s current or previous illness or diseases, pregnancy, medication use history, and rate of mobility. For example, a pregnant woman who suffers from severe vomiting in the morning would have an imbalance in fluid volume and need to increase fluid intake despite the persistent vomiting, while a patient with heart failure who shows the same imbalance might need to adjust to his medication routine or increased mobility to restore balance.
Reference
Rogers, J. (2022). McCance & Huether’s Pathophysiology-E-Book: The Biologic Basis for Disease in Adults and Children. Elsevier Health Sciences.
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