The nurse is caring for a client and notes that the peripheral parenteral nutrition (PN) bag has only 20 mL left and a new PN bag has not yet arrived from the pharmacy. Which of the following interventions is priority?
A)Monitor the client's capillary blood glucose until a new PN bag is hung.
B)Flush the peripheral line with saline and wait until the new PN bag is available.
C)Infuse 5% dextrose in water until the new PN bag is delivered from the pharmacy.
D)Decrease the rate of the current PN infusion to 10 mL/hour until the new bag arrives.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To prevent hypoglycemia, the nurse should infuse a 5% dextrose solution until the next PN bag can be started. Decreasing the rate of the ordered PN infusion is beyond the nurse's scope of practice. Flushing the line and then waiting for the next bag may lead to hypoglycemia. Monitoring the capillary blood glucose is appropriate but is not the priority.

The Nurse Is Caring for a Client and Notes That