An elderly patient falls at home and lies on the floor for 24 hours without anything to eat or drink for 24 hours before being found and admitted to the hospital.What would be an important thing for the nurse to do before collecting blood to evaluate nutritional status?

Question

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It is important to rehydrate patients who have not had any fluids for some time.If they are not rehydrated before blood is collected,test results will be falsely elevated.Weighing the patient will be useful only after the patient is rehydrated.Managing the patient's pain is important,but is not directly related to evaluation of nutritional status.Assessing food and beverage intake before the fall may be part of a complete nutrition assessment,but it is not necessary before collection of blood samples.

An Elderly Patient Falls at Home and Lies on the Floor