Essential critical care skills 5: management of fluid balance
- Naldrett, Ian
This article has been double-blind peer reviewed
In this article…
How to achieve accurate critical care fluid balance charting
Understanding ongoing losses in critical care and how to factor them in to fluid balance
Why it is crucial to report abnormal changes in fluid balance to the critical care team
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Abstract
Fluid balance is a key area of critical care clinical practice of which all staff who care for patients need to be aware. Small fluctuations can have a significant impact on patient outcomes and progress, so careful charting and review is needed from the multidisciplinary team. This article, which is part five of the essential critical care skills series, discusses the importance of fluid balance in adults who are critically ill, common considerations for the inputs and outputs of such patients, and potential effects on patient status. It also provides a framework for when and how concerns around fluid balance should be escalated to the multidisciplinary team.