Trainer’s tip: Signs and symptoms of dehydration
LTC Nursing Assistant Trainer, April 5, 2012
Signs and symptoms of dehydration include:
- Sunken cheeks or eyeballs
- Dry, brown tongue and mucous membranes
- Furrows or lines in tongue
- Dry, inelastic skin
- Poor skin turgor (check forehead or over the sternum in the elderly)
- Weight loss
- Concentrated urine
- Constipation and impaction
- Nausea and anorexia
- Increased time for veins to refill
- Abnormal laboratory values (elevated hemoglobin/hematocrit, potassium, chloride, sodium, albumin, transferrin, BUN, urine specific gravity)
- Greater than three-pound weight loss within seven days
- Delusions, dizziness, delirium
- Unsteady gait
- Headache
- Flushed appearance
Sadly, by the time signs and symptoms appear, most residents are already dehydrated, and aggressive interventions are essential.
This is an excerpt from the HCPro book, The Long-Term Care Nursing Desk Reference, Second Edition, by Barbara Acello, MS, RN.
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