An 85-year-old patient who has been NPO since midnight last night for diagnostic testing just completed the procedure. Which intervention is most important?
a. Inform the patient about the test results.
b. Obtain the patient's weight for compari-son to the morning value.
c. Turn the patient every 2 hours.
d. Offer 4 ounces of water or juice every hour.
D
Offering small amounts of fluid every hour will rehydrate the older adult without resorting to intravenous fluids. The older adult has very little fluid reserve and has lost the ability to concen-trate the urine; consequently, a long period without fluid intake can cause dehydration. The doc-tor should inform the patient about the test results. Weighing the patient again is unnecessary. While prevention of skin breakdown is important, there is no indication that the patient cannot reposition independently.
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