Renal Nursing Flashcards
7 cards from real MSNCB practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Renal Nursing flashcards as text
A patient with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 4 has a serum potassium of 6.2 mEq/L. Which dietary instruction is the priority?
Answer: Avoid high-potassium foods such as bananas and oranges
Hyperkalemia (K+ >5.5 mEq/L) is life-threatening; dietary restriction of high-potassium foods is the priority nursing intervention.
Which finding in a patient receiving peritoneal dialysis (PD) most warrants immediate notification of the physician?
Answer: Cloudy peritoneal effluent
Cloudy effluent is the hallmark sign of peritoneal dialysis-associated peritonitis requiring immediate medical intervention.
A nurse is caring for a patient on hemodialysis with an arteriovenous (AV) fistula. Which assessment finding requires immediate action?
Answer: Absence of thrill and bruit
Loss of thrill and bruit indicates fistula thrombosis, which requires immediate reporting to preserve vascular access.
Which electrolyte imbalance is most commonly associated with end-stage renal disease (ESRD)?
Answer: Hyperphosphatemia
ESRD impairs phosphate excretion, leading to hyperphosphatemia, which secondarily contributes to renal osteodystrophy.
A patient with acute kidney injury (AKI) has a urine output of 25 mL/hour for the past 3 hours. How should the nurse classify this finding?
Answer: Oliguria requiring evaluation
Oliguria is defined as urine output <0.5 mL/kg/hr or <30 mL/hr in adults, warranting prompt clinical evaluation.
When educating a patient about phosphate binders, which instruction is most important?
Answer: Take the medication with meals to bind dietary phosphate
Phosphate binders must be taken with meals to bind phosphate from food before it is absorbed in the GI tract.
Which laboratory value best reflects the adequacy of hemodialysis treatment?
Answer: Kt/V ratio
The Kt/V ratio (dialyzer clearance × time / urea volume of distribution) is the standard measure of hemodialysis adequacy; a target of ≥1.2 is recommended.