Kidney Basics
These two bean-shaped organs filter the blood and help maintain fluid and electrolyte balance.
What are the kidneys?
This process moves waste products such as urea from an area of higher concentration to lower concentration across a semipermeable membrane.
What is diffusion?
This condition occurs when excess fluid accumulates in the body and may cause edema and shortness of breath.
What is fluid overload?
Before using an AV fistula, the nurse assesses for this vibration and this sound to evaluate blood flow.
What are a thrill and a bruit?
This Dutch physician developed an early artificial kidney during World War II.
Who is Willem Kolff?
This functional unit of the kidney filters blood and forms urine.
What is the nephron?
This dialysis process removes excess fluid by creating a pressure gradient across the dialyzer membrane.
What is ultrafiltration?
A dialysis patient gains 2 kg between treatments. Assuming 1 kg of weight gain is approximately 1 liter of fluid, this is the approximate fluid gain.
What is 2 liters?
This access should not be used for routine blood pressure measurements or venipuncture in the access arm.
What is an AV fistula or AV graft?
This type of vascular access connects an artery directly to a vein and is often preferred for long-term hemodialysis when feasible.
What is an arteriovenous fistula (AVF)?
This hormone, produced by the kidneys, stimulates red blood cell production.
What is erythropoietin (EPO)?
This process describes water moving across a semipermeable membrane due to differences in solute concentration.
What is osmosis?
This electrolyte imbalance can cause muscle weakness and dangerous cardiac dysrhythmias when levels are elevated.
What is hyperkalemia?
A dialysis patient reports chest pain and becomes short of breath during treatment. The nurse’s first priority is this.
What is immediate patient assessment and intervention, including stopping or modifying treatment as indicated by the clinical situation and activating emergency help as needed?
This access uses a synthetic tube to connect an artery and a vein.
What is an arteriovenous graft (AVG)?
This electrolyte is especially dangerous when elevated because it can cause life-threatening cardiac dysrhythmias.
What is potassium?
This waste product, produced when the body breaks down protein, is commonly measured to help evaluate how effectively dialysis removes waste from the blood.
What is urea?
This is the term for the prescribed target weight after dialysis when excess fluid has been removed and the patient is adequately hydrated.
What is dry weight (target weight)?
This complication should be suspected when a patient develops a sudden headache, confusion, nausea, or seizures during or shortly after dialysis, especially during initial treatments.
What is dialysis disequilibrium syndrome?
This type of dialysis access is a catheter placed in a large central vein and can be used when immediate access is needed.
What is a central venous catheter (CVC)?
A patient with kidney failure may develop anemia because the kidneys produce less of this hormone.
What is erythropoietin (EPO)?
In hemodialysis, blood and dialysate flow on opposite sides of this barrier, allowing waste removal while keeping blood cells in the bloodstream.
What is a semipermeable membrane?
Removing fluid too rapidly during hemodialysis can cause this symptom, often accompanied by hypotension and cramping.
What is intradialytic hypotension?
A patient’s AV fistula suddenly has no palpable thrill. This finding raises concern for this serious access complication.
What is thrombosis or access occlusion?
Unlike an AV fistula or graft, this access has a higher risk of bloodstream infection because it provides a direct route into the central circulation.
What is a central venous catheter (CVC)?