Scenario

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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Say someone is hospitalized due to cardiac issues. But he was given K+ enhanced fluid meant for another patient that was taking potassium-wasting diuretics, and his potassium levels were normal before the IV was administered.

What will happen to his resting membrane potentials? and what will happen to his neurons ability to generate action potentials?

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Specializes in Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.

What do YOU think will happen?

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My thoughts are that when they give the patient the K+ enhancing fluid, obviously more potassium is going to exit the cell. So therefore, more sodium is going to have to enter the axon. But I'm not sure what will actually happen to the action potentials.

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