The module title is nursing the highly dependent patient. The essay question was 'discuss the the role of the nurse in the delivery of intravenous therapy for the highly dependent patient'.

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this essay was a level 3 grade essay. the minumum pass for the essay was 48%. this essay was marked at 60%. this essay discussed the various roles of the nurse. some of these were intravenous cannulation, assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation, delivery of intravenous therapy. an area that could of been improved on was,the physiology of fluid balance. more detailed in this are could of increased the mark. along with a more indepth critical appraisal of others work.

This assignment is based on the module 'nursing the highly dependent patient'. The aim of this assignment is to discuss the role of the nurse in the safe delivery of intravenous therapy for a highly dependent patient, with reference to the to the normal distribution of body fluid. This topic was selected for discussion, due to the fact that intravenous (IV) therapy is now an important practice of the nurse, as it is recognised that up to eighty per cent of patients admitted to hospital will require this type of therapy (Wilkinson, 1996, cited in Workman, 1999).

However, with regards to the delivery of intravenous therapy, by the nurse, there continues to be a high risk of complications associated with this (RCN, 2003). Therefore to address this topic, this assignment will identify the highly dependent patient, and will discuss why these patients may require IV therapy. It will also make reference to the normal distribution of fluids in the body and why this fluid distribution may alter in these patients. The role of the nurse will then be discussed, which will look at the nursing process of assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation. Finally, it will consider interventions that may be used to deliver intravenous therapy safely to the highly dependent patient.

The highly dependent patient is recognised, as an individual,