You have had the opportunity to learn about gas exchange and the impact it can have on the body. With this discussion you will need to think about fluid imbalances and how this imbalance can affect the gas exchange of your patient?
Required Reading – Basic Nursing, Chapter 39
Activity Time: 1 Hour
Required Reading – Medical-Surgical Nursing, Chapters 11-13
Activity Time: 2 Hours
Suggested Reading
ATI reading: Fundamentals of Nursing 8.0, unit 4 – Physiological Integrity
Section 49 – IV therapy
Section 57 – Fluid and Electrolyte imbalances
ATI reading: Medical-Surgical 9.0, unit 6 – Nursing Care of Clients with Fluid/Electrolyte/Acid-Base Imbalances
Section 43 – Fluid Imbalances
Section 44 – Electrolyte Imbalances
Section 45 – Acid-Base Imbalances
This module will focus on fluid and electrolyte imbalances as it pertains to our patient care. First of all, it is important for you to become familiar with the different fluid and electrolyte imbalances. You may be asking why is this so important? Fluid and electrolyte imbalances could kill your patient if you are not aware of what they are and how to recognize them.
As you progress through this module you will read about the different types of fluid and electrolyte imbalances however; I do not want you to be overwhelmed either. You will need to know what clinical signs to look for as well as lab values, but lab values will come in a later course. We will focus on the different types and clinical signs through the discussion and written assignment.
Vocabulary Practice
Rollover the term to learn its definitioN
Intravascular fluid
Isotonic
Oncotic pressure
Os
Semipermeable membranes
Solutes
Transcellular fluid
Free movement of particles (solute)
across permeable membrane from
area of higher to lower concentration
Charged particles found in body fluids
The fluid located between cells and includes interstitial and intravascular fluid
A solution with a concentration higher than that of blood
A solution with a concentration lower than that of blood
The fluid located between cells
The fluid located inside each cell
The fluid located inside the blood vessels, excluding the fluid inside the cells in the blood vessels
Solution that has the same osmotic pressure as the referent solution (ex plasma)
Osmotic pressure because of proteins
The number of solutes per kilogram of fluid
The number of solutes per liter of fluid
The movement of water from an area of low concentration of solutes (low osmolality) to an area of high concentration of solutes
(high osmolality)
The ability of a solution to draw fluid across a semipermeable membrane
Separation between two areas that allows movement of some fluids or solutes
Particles contained within the fluid that contributes to the concentration or osmolality of the fluid
Fluid that is in neither the intracellular nor extracellular space, and includes cerebrospinal fluid, joint fluid, and the fluid within the gastrointestinal tract