Question

A nurse is caring for a patient who is in hypovolemic shock. While waiting for a unit of blood, the nurse should administer which of the following IV solutions?

1) Normal saline
2) Lactated Ringer's solution
3) 5% dextrose in water
4) 0.9% sodium chloride

Answer 1

In hypovolemic shock, a nurse should administer an isotonic IV solution like Normal saline or Lactated Ringer's solution, to maintain fluid and electrolyte balance until blood is available for transfusion.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a patient is in hypovolemic shock and a unit of blood is not immediately available, the nurse should administer an isotonic IV solution to replace lost fluid and maintain electrolyte balance. Therefore, the appropriate IV solutions to administer while waiting for blood would be either 1) Normal saline or 2) Lactated Ringer's solution, as both are isotonic and will not cause a significant change in the size of red blood cells, helping to avoid complications like cell crenation or cell lysis. Options 3) and 4) are not appropriate in this context. 5% dextrose in water will quickly become hypotonic as the glucose is metabolized, and 0.9% sodium chloride is actually the same as normal saline, which is option 1. It's essential to provide an isotonic solution to prevent further disruption of the patient's cellular function and maintain vascular volume until blood can be transfused.