Hyperkalemia

Hyperkalemia

Hyper= excessive
Kal= root word for potassium
Emia=blood
Meaning of hyperkalemia: excessive potassium in the blood
Normal Potassium: 3.5 to 5.1. Anything higher 7.0 or higher is very dangerous!

fluid so your blood test is picking up lots of

potassium which can cause us trouble
Remember: potassium is responsible for nerve
conduction and muscle contraction and when you
have too much potassium the body starts doing
some crazy things

 Your cell you have the organelles and made In short explanation: Most of the body’s potassium
up of a lot of different electrolytes is found in the intracellular part of the cell
 The outside of your cell which is the compared to the extracellular which is where
extracellular and the inside of the cell is sodium is mainly found. Blood tests that measure
intracellular potassium levels are measuring the potassium
 In your blood you have all these awesome outside of the cell in the extracellular fluid.
little things; we have some sodium potassium
among things
 Potassium loves to live intracellular, that is its
home but it does make up the extracellular
fluid there are some in the blood
 Whenever you're getting a blood test for
potassium (whenever a doctor orders a
potassium level or an electrolyte level on a
patient they are seeing how much potassium
is in the blood not inside the cell)
 That's what blood levels look at. They look at
the extracellular potassium
 Normally what's happened with hyperkalemia
is that: your potassium which is congregated
a lot in the cell has moved outside into this
extracellular
Remember the phrase “The Body CARED too much
about Potassium”
 Cellular Movement of Potassium from
Intracellular to extracellular (burns, tissue
damages, acidosis)
 Adrenal Insufficiency with Addison’s
Disease
 Renal Failure
 Excessive Potassium intake
 Drugs (potassium-sparing drugs:
spironolactone), Triamterene, ACE
inhibitors, NSAIDS)
Remember the word MURDER
 Muscle weakness
 Urine production little or none (renal
failure)
 Respiratory failure (due to the decreased
ability to use breathing muscles or seizures
develop)
 Decreased cardiac contractility (weak
pulse, low blood pressure)
 Early signs of muscle twitches/cramps…late
profound weakness, flaccid
 Rhythm changes: Tall peaked T waves, flat
p waves, Widened QRS and prolonged PR
interval
 Stop IV potassium if running and hold any
PO potassium supplements
 Initiate potassium restricted diet and
remember foods that are high in
potassium
Remember the word POTASSIUM for food rich in
potassium
 Potatoes, pork
 Oranges
 Tomatoes
 Avocados
 Strawberries,
 Spinach
 fIsh
 mUshrooms
 Musk Melons: cantaloupe
Also included are carrots, cantaloupe, raisins,
bananas.
 Prepare patient for ready for dialysis.
Most patient are renal patients who get
dialysis regularly and will have high
potassium.
 Kayexalate is sometimes ordered and
given PO or via enema. This drug
promotes GI sodium absorption which
causes potassium excretion.
 Doctor may order potassium wasting
drugs like Lasix or Hydrochlorothiazide
 Administer a hypertonic solution of
glucose and regular insulin to pull the
potassium into the cell
- normally potassium lives inside the cell
and it's moved outside of the cell into
the extracellular fluid so giving this
hypertonic solution will cause that
potassium go back into the cell which
is where we want it

Nursing Interventions for

Hyperkalemia
 Monitor cardiac, respiratory, neuromuscular,
renal, and GI status