{"id":138761,"date":"2024-09-16T08:08:53","date_gmt":"2024-09-16T08:08:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=138761"},"modified":"2024-09-16T08:08:55","modified_gmt":"2024-09-16T08:08:55","slug":"a-nurse-is-reviewing-the-laboratory-results-of-a-preschooler-who-has-gastroenteritis-and-notes-the-clients-potassium-level-is-2-meq-l","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/16\/a-nurse-is-reviewing-the-laboratory-results-of-a-preschooler-who-has-gastroenteritis-and-notes-the-clients-potassium-level-is-2-meq-l\/","title":{"rendered":"A nurse is reviewing the laboratory results of a preschooler who has gastroenteritis and notes the client&#8217;s potassium level is.2 mEq\/L"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A nurse is reviewing the laboratory results of a preschooler who has gastroenteritis and notes the client&#8217;s potassium level is.2 mEq\/L.<br>Which of the following assessment findings should the nurse expect?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A.<br>Oliguria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>B.<br>Hypertension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>C.<br>Hyporeflexia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>D.<br>Hyperactive bowel sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-6-color\"><strong>The correct answer and Explanation is :<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The correct answer is <strong>C. Hyporeflexia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Explanation:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the context of gastroenteritis, which often results in diarrhea and vomiting, electrolyte imbalances, including hypokalemia (low potassium levels), are common. Potassium is crucial for various bodily functions, including nerve conduction, muscle contraction, and maintaining normal heart rhythm. When potassium levels drop significantly, as in this case with a level of 2 mEq\/L (which is much lower than the normal range of 3.5 to 5.0 mEq\/L), several clinical manifestations can occur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Hyporeflexia:<\/strong> Potassium is vital for normal neuromuscular function. A severe deficiency in potassium can lead to decreased neuromuscular excitability, resulting in hyporeflexia, which is a reduced or absent reflex response. This is because potassium helps in the transmission of nerve impulses, and a deficiency can impair these impulses, leading to diminished reflexes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Oliguria:<\/strong> While oliguria (reduced urine output) could be related to electrolyte imbalances, it is not as directly tied to hypokalemia as hyporeflexia is. Oliguria is more commonly associated with acute kidney injury or severe dehydration, which might occur in gastroenteritis but is not a primary symptom of hypokalemia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hypertension:<\/strong> Potassium imbalance is more often associated with hypotension (low blood pressure) rather than hypertension (high blood pressure). Potassium helps regulate blood pressure, and low levels can lead to low blood pressure rather than high.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hyperactive bowel sounds:<\/strong> Gastroenteritis typically causes increased bowel motility, which might result in hyperactive bowel sounds. However, hypokalemia is more likely to lead to decreased bowel motility and hypoactive bowel sounds rather than hyperactivity.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, hyporeflexia is a key indicator of severe hypokalemia and aligns with the expected assessment findings for a preschooler with a potassium level of 2 mEq\/L.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A nurse is reviewing the laboratory results of a preschooler who has gastroenteritis and notes the client&#8217;s potassium level is.2 mEq\/L.Which of the following assessment findings should the nurse expect? A.Oliguria. B.Hypertension. C.Hyporeflexia. D.Hyperactive bowel sounds. The correct answer and Explanation is : The correct answer is C. Hyporeflexia. Explanation: In the context of gastroenteritis, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-138761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138761\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}