Fluids and Electrolytes (ch 16 foundations)

Question 1

What percentage of an adult’s body weight consists of water?

Answer 1

50% to 60%

Question 2

When administering intravenous (IV) fluids, the nurse ensures that the IV fluids are infusing as ordered to prevent dehydration in an adult. Dehydration can become lethal if the patient loses:

Answer 2

20% of body fluid.

Question 3

The nurse uses a diagram to show that fluids in the interstitial and intravascular compartments are combined to form the:

Answer 3

extracellular compartment.

Question 4

The nurse encourages a patient who has been vomiting to drink fluids because the body fluid lost daily must match the amount of fluid taken in to maintain homeostasis. The recommended daily amount of water for an adult is about:

Answer 4

2500 mL.

Question 5

The nurse must keep an accurate intake and output record to assess kidney efficiency. In order for the kidneys to remove waste, they must produce an hourly urine output of at least:

Answer 5

30 mL.

Question 6

The nurse weighs a patient at the same time of day with the same scale and same clothing as a simple and accurate method of determining:

Answer 6

water balance.

Question 7

When a patient takes substances into the body, they first enter the extracellular compartment. However, to carry out their function they must enter the:

Answer 7

intracellular compartment.

-To carry out their function, substances must enter the cell.

Question 8

The nurse instructs a patient that his inhaled oxygen moved into the intravascular compartment by a process called:

Answer 8

passive transport.

-occurs when the patient inhales oxygen into the lungs, with the oxygen passing by diffusion into the intravascular compartment.

Question 9

The nurse explains to a patient that the drug Lasix reduces edema by drawing water from the interstitial space into the intravascular space. This process is called:

Answer 9

osmosis.

• is the movement of water from an area of lower concentration to an area of higher concentration.

Question 10

Actively transporting electrolytes from an area of higher concentration to an area of lower concentration requires:

Answer 10

hydrostatic pressure.

Question 11

Electrolytes are not measured by weight; their electrical activity is expressed in milliequivalents. The nurse clarifies that 1 milliequivalent of potassium has the same combining power as 1 milliequivalent of:

Answer 11

hydrogen.

Question 12

Sodium is the most abundant electrolyte in the body. The location of electrolytes is important for maintaining homeostasis. Sodium is the major electrolyte in which fluid compartment?

Answer 12

Extracellular

Question 13

The lactating mother is counseled by the nurse to eat adequate amounts of meat and legumes to increase her level of:

Answer 13

phosphorus.

Question 14

As the nurse assesses the edematous cardiac patient, she is aware that the condition is a result of retained fluid and the patient is:

Answer 14

hypernatremic.

• is a greater-than-normal concentration of sodium, which leads to retained fluids and edema.

Question 15

The nurse closely assesses a patient with hypokalemia for:

Answer 15

cardiac complications.

Question 16

After assessing a calcium level of 6.2 mEq/L, the nurse modifies the care plan for the immobilized patient to include observation for possible:

Answer 16

may develop because of high levels of calcium.

Question 17

Homeostasis of the hydrogen ion concentration in body fluids depends on the ratio of carbonic acid to bicarbonate in the extracellular fluid, which is:

Answer 17

1: 20.

- is 1 part carbonic acid to 20 parts bicarbonate.

Question 18

When reading the lab report of a patient with excessive diarrhea, the nurse notes that the pH is 7.10, and the PaCO2 and the PaO2 are normal. From this information alone, the nurse assesses the patient to be in:

Answer 18

metabolic acidosis.

Question 19

When assessing a patient with respiratory alkalosis, the nurse expects to see:

Answer 19

muscle weakness.

Question 20

Three body systems work at different speeds to keep the pH in the narrow range of normal. The order of effectiveness for these three

Answer 20

blood buffers, lungs, and kidneys.

-The blood buffers’ speed is a fraction of a second, the lungs take minutes, and the kidneys take hours to days.

Question 21

A patient admitted in a state of extreme anxiety has vital signs of: T 98.6° F, P 81, BP 130/86, R 32. The nurse is aware if this hyperventilation continues, the result will be:

Answer 21

respiratory alkalosis.-

is caused by hyperventilation as the lungs blow off large amounts of CO2.

Question 22

If a patient began vomiting and continued to do so for several hours, the nurse is aware that this loss of stomach contents can result in:

Answer 22

metabolic alkalosis.

-The most common cause of metabolic alkalosis is vomiting gastric contents

Question 23

When creating a nursing care plan for a patient with metabolic acidosis, the nurse should focus on:

Answer 23

deep-breathing exercises.

-Deep breathing will cause the patient to blow off CO2 and assist in increasing the pH and reduce the acidity.

Question 24

The nurse concludes there is no need for further instruction about selecting foods high in potassium when the patient chooses:

Answer 24

apricots and asparagus.

Question 25

What are the three types of passive transport? (Select all that apply.)

Answer 25

Diffusion
Osmosis
Filtration

Question 26

What are the three buffer systems of the body? (Select all that apply.)

Answer 26

a. Bicarbonate/carbonic acid system
b. Respiratory system
c. Renal system

Question 27

The nurse expects an adult with normal kidney function to void a minimum of ____ mL of urine in 4 hours.

Answer 27

120

-The norm is to excrete at least 30 mL/hour. In 4 hours, the urine output is expected to be 120 mL.

Question 28

A child has been having an asthma attack for the last 8 hours. Because of the child’s inability to exhale effectively, the nurse assesses for respiratory __________.

Answer 28

acidosis

-Retained CO2 will lead to respiratory acidosis.

Question 29

The nurse explains that a normal adult will lose approximately _____ mL of water through respiration in the course of a day.

Answer 29

350