A nurse is assessing the family unit to determine their ability to adapt to the change required of a member having surgery. Which area is the nurse monitoring?

Total volume of the IV solution: 500 mL

Total amount of potassium chloride to infuse: 40 mEq

Infusion rate of potassium chloride: 10 mEq/hr

First, we need to determine the total time the infusion will run based on the potassium chloride infusion rate:

Totalinfusiontime(hours)=Infusionrate(mEq/hr)TotalmEqtoinfuse​

Totalinfusiontime(hours)=10mEq/hr40mEq​=4hours

Now that we know the total volume (500 mL) needs to be infused over 4 hours, we can calculate the mL per hour:

IVpumprate(mL/hr)=Totalinfusiontime(hours)Totalvolume(mL)​

IVpumprate(mL/hr)=4hours500mL​=125mL/hr

Therefore, the nurse should set the IV pump to deliver 125 mL/hr.

A. While a nurse performing their duties is part of the context of care, it doesn't inherently establish negligence. Negligence occurs when that duty is not carried out appropriately or is breached. Simply performing a duty, even if an injury occurs, doesn't automatically equate to negligence. The focus is on how the duty was carried out.
B. This criterion relates to informed consent, which is a separate legal and ethical concept. While failure to obtain informed consent can lead to legal action (like battery), it is not a direct element required to prove negligence. Negligence focuses on the breach of a duty of care that leads to harm, regardless of whether consent was obtained.
C. For negligence to be established, there must be actual harm or injury to the patient. If no injury occurred, there is no basis for a negligence claim, even if a duty was breached. Damage is a crucial element of negligence.
D. A breach of duty means the nurse failed to act as a reasonably prudent nurse would have acted in the same or similar circumstances. This could involve an act of commission (doing something incorrectly) or an act of omission (failing to do something that should have been done).
E. The first element of negligence is establishing that a duty of care existed between the nurse and the patient. This means there was a professional relationship where the nurse had a responsibility to provide care to the patient. This duty arises from the nurse-patient relationship.