Fluid and Electrolyte Imbalances

Course Overview

How confident are you that you could recognise the signs of a life-threatening electrolyte imbalance? Can you accurately assess and manage a change to a person’s fluid balance? Start this Course now to refresh your knowledge and skills.

Topics

• What are the keys to maintaining fluid balance?
• Why is hypokalaemia so significant?
• How do you recognise the early signs of electrolyte imbalances?
• A guide to selecting IV fluids and much, much more...

Need

Preventing deterioration associated with undetected fluid and electrolyte changes such as hypovolaemic shock, bleeding and arrhythmias is a key priority in older adults and people who are recovering from a procedure.

The provision of care that is underpinned by best practice is known to reduce the likelihood of complications. If patient harm is to be prevented, nurses and other health professionals must continue to update on how to detect and respond early to potential fluid and electrolyte disturbances.

Purpose

The purpose of this Course is to provide key updates on how to detect and manage fluid and electrolyte changes to prevent patient harm and improve patient safety.

Learning Outcomes

• Your sharpened assessment skills will assist in recognising the early signs of electrolyte disturbance more rapidly, preventing harm associated with clinical deterioration.
• A renewed confidence in the knowledge of fluid physiology will support you to more accurately assess and manage a change to a person’s fluid balance.
• You will be able to explain to other team members the basis for the importance of monitoring, reporting and documenting a patient’s fluid and electrolyte status.

Target Audience

Registered nurses and other health professionals who provide care to patients, especially older adults and those recovering postoperatively, will gain confidence from undertaking this Course, given the potential for harm associated with fluid and electrolyte imbalances in these populations.

Disclosure

No conflict of interest exists for anyone in the position to control content for this activity. Wherever possible, generic or non-proprietary names of medications or products have been used.

Educator

Genevieve Brideson

Dr Genevieve Brideson completed her general nurse training in 1985, operating room certificate in 1988, midwifery in 1992, and a bachelor of nursing in 2000. She commenced aviation nursing in 1991 on commercial flights with critical care patients and then with RFDS Eastern Goldfields (now Western Operations) in 1993. She moved into hospital management roles at the end of 2007, but aviation nursing has remained her passion. She completed honours in 2010, looking at how flight nurses in Australia maintain their midwifery skills and graduated with a PhD in September 2017, which examined the work of contemporary flight nurses in Australia. Genevieve is currently working as a freelance consultant in various nursing roles, including as a member of the South Australian Health Practitioners Tribunal.