During morning medication rounds, a nurse reviews the chart of a client diagnosed with heart failure. The client is scheduled to receive a daily dose of oral furosemide. The morning laboratory report indicates a serum potassium level of . What is the most appropriate immediate action for the nurse to take?
- Withhold the furosemide and immediately notify the registered nurse of the laboratory results.Cevap
- BAdminister the prescribed dose and document the findings in the electronic health record.
- CChange the administration route to an intravenous push to manage the client's fluid volume more carefully.
- DProceed with administering the medication as long as the client's current heart rate and blood pressure are stable.
Cevap
Withhold the furosemide and immediately notify the registered nurse of the laboratory results.
The correct action is to withhold the medication and notify the supervising registered nurse. A serum potassium level of indicates severe hypokalemia (the normal range is approximately to ). Because furosemide is a potassium-depleting loop diuretic, administering it would further lower the potassium level, placing the client at extremely high risk for potentially fatal cardiac arrhythmias.
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Anahtar Kavram
Recognizing critical laboratory values and withholding contraindicated medications to prevent adverse outcomes.