Patients with disordered water balance. Innovative psychiatric nursing intervention strategies.
1. Patients with disordered water balance (DWB) have difficulty with fluid intake/output and osmoregulation. These difficulties are characterized by polydipsia, polyuria, significant variation in pattern of excretion, abnormal diurnal weight gain, and behavioral changes. 2. Therapeutic milieu-management strategies for patients experiencing acute and chronic phases of DWB are the cornerstone of long-term management of these patients. 3. Implementation of the intervention and milieu-management strategies described in this article resulted in a reduction of patients requiring acute medical treatment subsequent to an acute phase of DWB.
Ribble
D J
DJ
Middletown Psychiatric Center, New York 10940.
Thelander
B
B
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D009746:Nursing, Team; D012008:Recurrence; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000451:nursing; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D014869:Water Intoxication / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology