Sodium Flashcards
The sodium level in your blood is COMPLETELY dependent on how much_____ you have in your body.
water; this is the ONLY electrolyte that even cares about water or affected by.
The body likes for sodium & water to be equal to each other.
Hypernatremia AKA Dehydration
Too much___ & not enough___
sodium; water
Causes of hypernatremia:
Hyperventilation because everytime you___ you lose water.
Heat stroke
Diabetes____
Elderly dementia patients who forget to drink water is also at risk
exhale
insipidus
Signs & symptoms of hypernatremia
___ mouth & thirst
Neuro changes. why? what happens?
Dry
- brain doesn’t like it when sodium is unbalanced. either hyper or hypo.
it will start to swell
increased cranial pressure
seizures
Treatment for hypernatremia:
____ sodium
____patient with IV fluids
Daily weight and I & O= anytime you’ve got a sodium problem, you’ve got a___ problem.
T OR F?
Patients on feeding tubes tend to get very dehydrated
- restrict
- dilute
- Fluid
T!
Hyponatremia:
Dilution of sodium. Too much___ not enough sodium.
Causes:
Vomiting, & sweating but drinking only____ for fluid replacement. Why is it bad?
psychogenic polydipsia. what is that?
D5W can cause this. why?
SIADH. why?
water
water; it only replaces the water, so it dilutes the blood. You need something to replace the electrolytes like gatorade.
psych patient that just LOVES water. They’ll drink water from anywhere…even toilets.
it’s only composed of sugar & water
They’re retaining most of their water.
Hyponatremia treatment:
patient needs___; patient doesn’t need
they will need some____ saline (3-5% N.S). why does it need be given SLOWLY?
What can happen when you give them 3-5% N.S? what happens in the circulation?
sodium; water
Hypertonic saline (it will pull water out of cells) - because your brain doesn't like ANY sudden shift in serum sodium. This is normally given in the ICU because it's so dangerous.
- they can go into circulatory overload. pulling mucho water in the vascular space.
