Anatomy & Pathophysiology
This is the functional unit of the kidney, made up of a renal corpuscle and renal tubules.
What is the nephron?
This above-102°F sign, along with flank pain, is a classic presentation of acute pyelonephritis.
What is fever (greater than 102°F)?
For pyelonephritis, nurses encourage this amount of daily fluid intake to help flush bacteria from the urinary tract.
What is at least 2 liters per day?
This test with culture and sensitivity confirms a urinary infection and identifies the best antibiotic.
What is a urinalysis with culture and sensitivity?
This mineral is restricted to 2–4 g/day to prevent edema, hypertension, and heart failure in CKD.
What is sodium?
In this inherited disorder, multiple fluid-filled cysts enlarge over time and destroy healthy kidney tissue.
What is Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)?
This swelling around the eyes and face, along with dark, frothy urine, is a hallmark of glomerulonephritis.
What is periorbital edema?
This daily measurement is the most reliable way to track a renal client's fluid status.
What is daily weight?
This lab value indicates how well the kidneys remove waste and fluid, with a normal level of 90 mL/min or greater.
What is the GFR (glomerular filtration rate)?
These common salt alternatives should be avoided in CKD because they contain potassium chloride.
What are salt substitutes?
This type of AKI is caused by an outside source that impairs renal perfusion, such as shock, dehydration, burns, or sepsis — with no initial tissue damage.
What is prerenal AKI?
In PKD, this is usually the very first sign of disease.
What is hypertension?
Before hemodialysis, the nurse palpates for this pulsation and auscultates for this swooshing sound over the AV fistula or graft.
What are a thrill and a bruit?
In AKI, this defining urine change is less than 0.5 mL/kg/hr sustained over 6 hours.
What is decreased urine output (oliguria)?
For a hemodialysis patient, this is the general daily fluid allowance formula based on the prior day's output.
What is 600 mL plus the previous day's urine output?
In glomerulonephritis, repeated cycles of this process cause immune-mediated damage to the glomerulus and lower the GFR.
What is inflammation?
Instead of classic fever or pain, older adults with a UTI-related condition like pyelonephritis often present with this neurologic change.
What is new-onset confusion?
The arm with a fistula or graft should never be used for these three things.
What are venipuncture, blood pressure readings, and restrictive clothing?
During the oliguria phase of AKI, urine shows this "fixed" reading between 1.007 and 1.010 along with a high sodium concentration.
What is a fixed specific gravity?
During peritoneal dialysis, protein intake must be high enough to maintain nitrogen balance and compensate for losses. The recommended intake is this amount per kilogram of ideal body weight per day for most patients.
What is at least 1.2–1.3 g/kg per day?
In PKD, generous hydration slows cyst growth by suppressing this hormone, which would otherwise trigger cAMP formation and stimulate cyst growth.
What is vasopressin (antidiuretic hormone)?
In CKD, monitor sodium for this type of change and potassium for this type of change — the two electrolytes most linked to seizures and fatal arrhythmias.
What are neurological changes (sodium) and cardiac changes (potassium)?
These medications must be given with every meal because most phosphorus is absorbed within one hour of eating.
What are phosphate binders?
When glomeruli are damaged and blood protein spills into the urine, the client develops this classic trio of findings.
What are elevated cholesterol, hypertension, and edema?
These antacids should be avoided as phosphate binders in CKD because their key element is excreted solely by the kidneys.
What are magnesium-containing antacids?