Clean Water And Hydration
Keeping patients hydrated by giving them enough clean water and monitoring their fluid intake to prevent dehydration effects, such as dizziness and dry mouth, is seen in the RCN’s enhanced nutritional care, which was formed using Florence Nightingale’s theory on keeping a clean environment for the patients’ recovery. In Nightingale’s environmental theory, making sure that the water is clean and pure can prevent patients from getting sicker when around patients who have other diseases instead of using polluted water from poor drainage to be used for patients’ healing (Nightingale, 1850). Today, there are nearly 38% of hospitals and health-care facilities around the world are unable to use safe, clean water; and the Royal College of Nursing recognized this that they ensure patients in acute care receive clean, fresh water to encourage hydration.
…show more content…
(Norgrove, 2016; Royal College of Nursing, 2016).
Furthermore, for a patient to have proper hydration, nurses must monitor the patient’s fluid intake, making sure that the patient drinks the right amount of water per day; preventing thirst and being dehydrated, or preventing overhydrated and leading to hyponatremia, which is when the salts, sodium, and blood levels are low due to drinking extreme amounts of water and being intoxicated (DiLonardo, 2014). According to Nightingale, knowing and keeping record on how much water the patient is given will help the nurse’s observation and memory; watching if the patient is drinking the water and remembering when to give the patient water (Nightingale,
1860). In the “Nutrition Now” campaign’s hydration guide, “The suggested amount of fluid is 2.5 litres a day unless there are clinical contradictions” and for patients to drink the proper amount of fluid, nurses can “monitor regularly for signs of dehydration” and motivate them “to drink small amounts throughout the day and more at meal times or with medication (Royal College of Nursing, 2016). Patients who Dehydration can lead to constipations, infections, delayed healing, and death, which Nightingale first discovered in her work before the Royal College of Nursing made the hydration essential guide (Royal College of Nursing, 2016).
(Norgrove, 2016; Royal College of Nursing, 2016).
Furthermore, for a patient to have proper hydration, nurses must monitor the patient’s fluid intake, making sure that the patient drinks the right amount of water per day; preventing thirst and being dehydrated, or preventing overhydrated and leading to hyponatremia, which is when the salts, sodium, and blood levels are low due to drinking extreme amounts of water and being intoxicated (DiLonardo, 2014). According to Nightingale, knowing and keeping record on how much water the patient is given will help the nurse’s observation and memory; watching if the patient is drinking the water and remembering when to give the patient water (Nightingale,
1860). In the “Nutrition Now” campaign’s hydration guide, “The suggested amount of fluid is 2.5 litres a day unless there are clinical contradictions” and for patients to drink the proper amount of fluid, nurses can “monitor regularly for signs of dehydration” and motivate them “to drink small amounts throughout the day and more at meal times or with medication (Royal College of Nursing, 2016). Patients who Dehydration can lead to constipations, infections, delayed healing, and death, which Nightingale first discovered in her work before the Royal College of Nursing made the hydration essential guide (Royal College of Nursing, 2016).