An Intravenous Fluid Primer for Physician Assistants in the Emergency Department

Authors

Barry Quesnel, University of LynchburgFollow

Advisor

Dr. Rust

Abstract

As more physician assistants (PAs) choose emergency medicine as a new career choice, it is imperative that their ongoing training after graduation continues so that they may learn the importance of knowing how to take care critically ill patients. In many instances, whether it be PAs wanting a change of clinical practice, or newly minted ones wishing a future in Emergency Medicine (EM), all face a challenge of knowing when to utilize intravenous (IV) fluids employing sound clinical knowledge. In EM, that lack of knowledge has proven to affect the clinical outcomes of our patients. The problem is not one of learning ability. PAs are very adept at that. It is that during PA school we get to receive a large amount of academic training in a short amount of time. It can lead to a shortage of essential knowledge when it comes to the need for IV fluid training resuscitation. Instead, it is one of having the time and patience to be able to sift through all the available information on this topic and establish a practical guide for its use. That will be the premise of this paper. This article will summarize the problems at hand regarding possible reasons why there is a lack of PA knowledge of IV infusion therapy. And give a brief review of its origins and the origins and physiology behind the use of Normal Saline (NS) and Lactated Ringers (LR) in an Emergency Room (ER) setting.

Recommended Citation

Quesnel B. An Intravenous Fluid Primer for Physician Assistants in the Emergency Department. University of Lynchburg DMSc Doctoral Project Assignment Repository. 2019; 1(1).