The nurse is planning the care of a patient in the intensive care unit
With regards to maintaining adequate fluid volume for this patient, the nurse realizes that interventions should be planned to reduce the risk of which of the following? 1. loss of sodium
2. retention of potassium
3. loss of calcium
4. retention of sodium
4
Rationale: Under normal situations, the regulation of water is through the thirst mechanism. In the intensive care unit however, many patients have altered levels of consciousness and will not have this mechanism in place. Because of this, hypernatremia or retention of sodium is a common electrolyte imbalance in these types of patients. It is more likely for this patient to retain sodium than have a loss. Most intensive care patients experience a reduced potassium level and do not retain potassium. Calcium balance is not typically associated with fluid volume.
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