The unit nurse is reviewing a new medication prescription for an adult client with a serum potassium level of 2.8 mEq/L. The prescription reads: 'Potassium chloride 40 mEq in 100 mL 0.9% sodium chloride IV piggyback over 2 hours.' The client currently has a continuous normal saline infusion running through a 20-gauge peripheral catheter in the left forearm. What is the priority nursing action?
- Withhold the medication and immediately contact the healthcare provider to report the unsafe concentration and rate.Cevap
- BObtain a secondary infusion pump and program the rate to deliver the medication precisely over 120 minutes.
- CVerify compatibility between the potassium chloride solution and the primary normal saline infusion.
- DAssess the client's recent urine output to ensure adequate renal clearance before initiating the infusion.
Cevap
The nurse must withhold the medication and immediately contact the healthcare provider to report the unsafe concentration and rate.
The ordered dose of 40 mEq of potassium chloride in 100 mL of fluid to be infused over 2 hours is entirely unsafe for a peripheral intravenous line. The maximum recommended peripheral concentration is typically 10 mEq per 100 mL (100 mEq/L), and the maximum safe peripheral infusion rate is 10 mEq per hour. Administering this high concentration peripherally will cause severe phlebitis, pain, and tissue damage, while the excessive rate places the client at high risk for fatal cardiac dysrhythmias. The nurse must recognize this lethal prescription and intervene immediately by contacting the provider.
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Anahtar Kavram
Safe administration limits for intravenous potassium chloride
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