Christina breaks down the three types of IV fluids: isotonic solutions like normal saline that don't move water across cell membranes, hypotonic fluids that pull water into cells, and hypertonic solutions that draw water out. D5W is isotonic in the bag but becomes hypotonic once your body metabolizes the glucose.
In this video, we're gonna do a super easy breakdown of the types of IV fluids that you need to know about in nursing school. Let's do it. Hey there, friend Christina here with nursingschoolofsuccess.com back with you with another video to help you raise your grades in nursing school. So if you remember from this video, there are three types of IV fluids that you need to know about. Isotonic, hypertonic, and hypotonic. Isotonic is where your body wants to be. It's where it's in balance. So when you give an isotonic solution to a patient, it won't cause fluid to shift any which way. It doesn't cause fluid to shift inside or outside the cells. It keeps the cells in balance. So the IV solutions that are isotonic are 0.9% normal saline, lactated ringers, and 5% dextrose in water or. Or D5W. Now, D5W can be a little tricky to remember because technically, 5% dextrose in water is isotonic when it's in the bag, but when it's in the body, it's hypotonic. D5W has a lot of glucose in it, and when it goes into the body, the body quickly uses up that glucose, which immediately takes away those particles, leaving more water than particles. So when 5% dextrose in water is given, it's isotonic in the bag, but it's hypotonic in the body because there's more than particles. Now that we've just talked about D5W being hypotonic in the body, let's talk about what hypotonic actually means. So when you think of hypotonic, I want you to think of little hippos. I like to call it Hippo Tonic. It's my favorite. So hypotonic solutions have more water than they do particles. So when you give a hypotonic solution, the water moves into the cells and makes them big and round and chunky like little hippos. The hypotonic IV solutions that you need to know about for nursing school are one half normal saline or 0.45% saline, a quarter normal saline or 0.225% saline, 1/3 normal saline or 0.33% normal saline. And like we talked about before, 5% dextrose and water or D5W when it's in the body. Now, the opposite of a hypotonic IV solution is hypertonic IV solutions. Hypertonic IV solutions are filled with solutes. They have so many solutes compared to the water inside of it. So that super concentrated solution comes into contact with the cell. The cell says, oh man, here, have some water friend. And it gives away all of its water. And when the cell gives away its water, they shrink more and more. So these cells are really shriveled up in itty bitty teeny tiny cells. And there are a lot of hypertonic IV solutions including 5% dextrose in 0.9% normal saline, 5% dextrose and 0.45% normal saline. 5 5% dextrose in lactated ringers, 10% dextrose in water, 20% dextrose in water and 50% dextrose in water 3% saline and 5% saline this, my friend, is your quick and easy breakdown of the types of IV fluids that you've got to know in nursing school. If this video helped you out to understand all of this, better, write love in the comments below. And of course make sure that you subscribe and hit the notification bell so you never miss a video. And if you're struggling with fluids and electrolytes in nursing school, definitely, definitely be sure to check out the fluids and electrolyte course that we have for you inside of the Nursing SOS Membership community. That link is down below to all those goodies for you to check out. Now click on the next video to keep rocking nursing school and go become the nurse that God created only you to be and I will see you in the next video.
