Nursing Homes Have a Dehydration Problem. Here’s How to Fix It.

 

50% - 90% of nursing home patients are at risk for dehydration. Many can’t get enough hydration by orally drinking water — leading to comorbidities and an early risk of death.

 

 Understanding the Hydration Gap

• Typically patients with:

  • Weight Loss/Malnutrition risks

  • Wounds

  • Infections

• Water intake is not the same thing as hydration

  • Water intake: Water into the body

  • Hydration: Water into the cells

• Hydration requires electrolytes (vitamins and minerals) which some patients can’t get from diets and water alone

  • These patients need more acute care than others, sometimes resulting in hospital stays

    • Patients admitted to hospitals from nursing homes are 10x more likely to be dehydrated than if they came from their own homes

• Even drinking 5% less water leads to dehydration, which is referred to as a Dehydration Cascade

  • Intracellular fluid shift: To balance extracellular fluid, the body moves water out of the organs and into the bloodstream

  • Mood, fatigue, cognition: As water exits vital organs like the brain, the patient may report a worsened mood, high levels of fatigue, and reduced cognitive ability

  • Reduced participation: Now severely dehydrated, the patient withdraws into their room and is less willing to get involved in personal care

  • Highest risk factors: The patient experiences worse outcomes from care and may require reactive interventions

 

Dehydration may be a simple problem, but it’s not easy to solve. 51% of nursing home residents can be considered dehydrated, and 89% may be severely dehydrated according to plasma osmolality

 

The Effects of Dehydration Cascade on Nursing Homes

 

• Dehydration is the cause of poor patient outcomes — which unequally affects patients in the Hydration Gap

  • Increases risks for falls

  • Leads to prolonged surgical recovery

  • Contributes to longer hospital stays and higher mortality rates

• Dehydration doesn't start with lab values

  • Medications might make dehydration worse

    • Known to deplete fluids and leave patients at higher risk

      • Anti-Diabetics

      • Anti-Convulsants

      • Anti-Depressants

  • Lab values only confirm dehydration, not prevent it

    • Certain blood conditions worsen the effects of dehydration

      • Elevated Hemoglobin: <9.32 mmol/L

      • Low Potassium: <3.5 mmol/L

      • Elevated Sodium: >145mmol/L 

• Many patients aren’t even unaware they are dehydrated 

  • Cognitive decline: Unable to communicate their needs with caregivers

  • Physical markers: The body’s signals for thirst decline with age

  • Salt loss: Even if patients drink enough water, imbalanced electrolytes and micronutrients prevent them from hydrating effectively

  • Lower urine concentrating ability: As a person ages, their kidneys lose the ability to concentrate urine, which requires larger amounts of water to flush out

 

Dript IV works with veteran clinicians to develop science-backed treatments that will close the hydration gap for good

 

How Micronutrient Supplementation Fights The Hydration Gap

 

• Micronutrient supplementation: providing the body with key micronutrients to improve dehydration and therapeutic outcomes

  • Delivering intravenously to:

    • Rebalance intracellular fluid

    • Reset the baseline for sustained oral hydration

    • Reduce risk and improve cognitive function

  • Clinically proven to support plans of care

    • Not medication, but nutrition

• The right infusions address:

  • Hydration: for at-risk patients

    • Vitamin C

    • B Complex

    • B12

  • Derma: for chronic wounds

    • Biotin

    • Zinc

    • Amino blend

  • Nutrition: for nutritionally deficient patients

    • Magnesium Chloride

    • Calcium Gluconate

    • BCAA

  • Cognition: for patients with cognitive impairments

    • B7 Biotin

    • Taurine

    • Glycine

  • Infection: for patients with infections or are immunocompromised

    • Amino Blend

    • Glutathione

    • B5

 

Learn more about solving the hydration gap with DriptIV.com]

 

Sources

 

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0141076814566260

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S152586101830416X

https://www.driptiv.com/hydration

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11528342/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3670161/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8537864/

https://www.driptiv.com/infusions