Deck 6: Fluid, Electrolyte, and Acidbase Imbalance

Question 1

A nurse has two newly admitted patients with dehydration.One patient is dehydrated from heat exhaustion, and the other is dehydrated from an overdose of Lasix.What finding should be present in both patients?

A) Increased skin turgor
B) Decreased pulse and respirations
C) Copious saliva and nasal secretions
D) Increased laboratory values of hemoglobin and hematocrit

Answer 1

Increased laboratory values of hemoglobin and hematocrit

Question 2

A licensed practical/vocational nurse (LPN/LVN)is preparing to add a new IV of 5% dextrose in water (D₅W)with potassium (K⁺)to an existing line.The LPN/LVN notices that only 25 mL of urine has been collected over the past hour.What is the most appropriate nursing intervention?

A) Avoid hanging the IV with K⁺ and inform the registered nurse (RN)of the urine output.
B) Run the IV rapidly for 30 minutes to stimulate urine production.
C) Call the physician who ordered the K⁺.
D) Hang the IV as ordered and chart the output.

Answer 2

Avoid hanging the IV with K⁺ and inform the registered nurse (RN)of the urine output.

Question 3

A nurse evaluates the laboratory reports on electrolyte values carefully to assess the balance between positive and negative ions.What is responsible for the regulation of this process?

A) Adaptation
B) Diffusion
C) Homeostasis
D) Osmosis

Answer 3

Diffusion

Question 4

A nurse assesses that a patient's urine has become much more concentrated.What is the most likely cause for the change?

A) Adrenaline
B) Aldosterone
C) Antidiuretic hormone (ADH)
D) Insulin

Question 5

A nurse understands that fluid balance is mainly monitored in the body by which two systems?

A) Circulatory and renal
B) Respiratory and circulatory
C) Renal and gastrointestinal
D) Hepatic and lymphatic

Question 6

What is primarily responsible for carrying fluids with nutrients and wastes on a random basis throughout the body?

A) Filtrates
B) Extracellular fluid
C) Intracellular fluid
D) Osmolytes

Question 7

A small child is hospitalized with severe metabolic acidosis after ingesting a whole bottle of baby aspirin approximately 8 hours earlier.In addition to providing reassurance to the patient, which nursing action is the most appropriate?

A) Providing IV treatments as ordered but without sodium bicarbonate
B) Frequently assessing the mental and neurologic status
C) Taking daily weights and vital signs
D) Inducing vomiting

Question 8

The K⁺ laboratory report shows a level of 5.2 mEq/L.What is the most important assessment for the nurse to make?

A) Excessive thirst
B) Irregular heartbeat
C) Swelling of ankles
D) Frightening hallucinations

Question 9

A nurse clarifies that electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium (K⁺), break down into smaller particles when dissolved.What are these smaller particles?

A) Cells
B) Elements
C) Ions
D) Molecules

Question 10

A patient has renal damage because of diabetes.What is the highest risk for this patient?

A) Hypercalcemia
B) Hypocalcemia
C) Hyperkalemia
D) Hypokalemia

Question 11

Both the intracellular and extracellular fluids are made up of many different electrolytes.What is the most abundant intracellular positively charged electrolyte?

A) Calcium
B) Chloride
C) Potassium
D) Sodium

Question 12

Each compartment of the body has a water-fluid distribution movement of its own.What is the process allowing these fluids to move and distribute themselves among compartments?

A) Active transport
B) Diffusion
C) Filtration
D) Osmosis

Question 13

For what compensatory condition should the nurse carefully assess when the patient with metabolic acidosis is hyperventilating?

A) Metabolic alkalosis
B) Respiratory acidosis
C) Respiratory alkalosis
D) Thyroid imbalances

Question 14

A patient's intravenous (IV)injection has been infusing at a very high rate.What assessment indicates fluid volume overload in this patient?

A) Hypotension
B) Tachycardia
C) Pulmonary edema
D) Kidney failure

Question 15

Older adults are at risk for dehydration because of reduced thirst and aging kidneys.What should the nurse assess as an early indicator of dehydration?

A) Reduced skin turgor
B) Constipation
C) Concentrated urine
D) Disorientation

Question 16

A nurse assists a patient with dyspnea to sit in a high Fowler position.What process allows gravity to help move oxygen from the pulmonary capillaries into the blood when the patient is in this position?

A) Active transport
B) Diffusion
C) Filtration
D) Osmosis

Question 17

What is being administered when a nurse hangs an IV bag with Na⁺, K⁺, and Cl^-?

A) Nutrients
B) Electrolytes
C) Enzymes
D) Vitamins

Question 18

When the water absorption in the renal tubules becomes greater than normal, what assessment finding should a nurse anticipate?

A) More concentrated urine
B) Less concentrated urine
C) More alkaline urine
D) Less alkaline urine

Question 19

What process occurs when oxygen is directed out of the arteries and into the capillaries?

A) Active transport
B) Diffusion
C) Filtration
D) Osmosis

Question 20

What is usually associated with hyperchloremia?

A) Metabolic acidosis
B) Metabolic alkalosis
C) Respiratory acidosis
D) Respiratory alkalosis

Question 21

A nurse cautions a group of high school athletes about fluid loss in hot, dry weather, because the normal loss from respiration, which is 300 to _____ mL/day, is doubled.

Question 22

A nurse assesses that a patient with congestive heart failure who is being treated with a diuretic has lost 4.4 lb in 1 day.This weight loss is equivalent to the loss of ____ L of fluid.

Question 23

What process involves blood being brought by the incoming capillaries into the kidney, which contains nitrogenous substances to be excreted as waste?

A) Active transport
B) Diffusion
C) Filtration
D) Osmosis

Question 24

What primarily maintains extracellular fluid osmolarity?

A) Chloride
B) Magnesium
C) Potassium
D) Sodium

Question 25

A patient is frequently thirsty.To what should the nurse attribute this symptom?

A) Too much sodium and too much water in the body
B) Too little sodium and too much water in the body
C) Too much sodium and too little water in the body
D) Too little sodium and too little water in the body

Question 26

A nurse should anticipate in a patient with respiratory acidosis that the blood pH reading would be lower than ______.

Question 27

What should a nurse instruct a patient with a K⁺ level of 6.2 to avoid? (Select all that apply.)

A) Lima beans
B) Bananas
C) Carrots
D) Tomatoes
E) Celery

Question 28

How does the healthy kidney adjust the volume and composition of filtrate that prevents excessive fluid loss?

A) Active transport
B) Filtration in the lymphatic system
C) Secretion of adrenalin
D) Tubular reabsorption

Question 29

What should treatment focus on when a patient is hypovolemic?

A) Extracellular fluid deficit and limiting drinking water
B) Hypertonic intracellular deficit and limiting water intake
C) Extracellular fluid deficit and encouraging fluid intake
D) Circulatory system hormone deficit and limiting water intake

Question 30

A nurse assesses deep-rapid respirations in a patient with metabolic acidosis to be an indicator of the homeostatic system at work to reduce the __________ level.(Do not abbreviate your answer.)