NCLEX RN Practice Question # 596

NCLEX Examination.

Practice Question # 596.

Intravenous Therapy

Purpose and uses

• Used to sustain clients who are unable to take substances orally
• Replaces water, electrolytes, and nutrients more rapidly than oral administration 3. Provides immediate access to the vascular system for the rapid delivery of specific solutions without the time required for gastrointestinal tract absorption
• Provides a vascular route for the administration of medication or blood components

Types of solutions.

Isotonic solutions

• Have the same osmolality as body fluids
• Increase extracellular fluid volume
• Do not enter the cells because no osmotic force exists to shift the fluids

Hypotonic solutions

• Are more dilute solutions and have a lower osmolality than body fluids
• Cause the movement of water into cells by osmosis
• Should be administered slowly to prevent cellular edema

Hypertonic solutions

• Are more concentrated solutions and have a higher osmolality than body fluids
• Concentrate extracellular fluid and cause movement of water from cells into the extracellular fluid by osmosis

Colloids

• Also called plasma expanders
• Pull fluid from the interstitial compartment into the vascular compartment
• Used to increase the vascular volume rapidly, such as in hemorrhage or severe hypovolemia