Upon noticing a 2 kg weight gain in a patient receiving IV therapy, what other signs might the nurse expect to observe?

When a patient experiences a significant weight gain, such as 2 kg while receiving intravenous therapy, this is indicative of fluid retention or overload. In such situations, distended neck veins and crackles in the lungs are signs that the body may be experiencing excess fluid volume.

Distended neck veins occur when there is an increased pressure in the venous system, often due to excessive fluid in the circulation, which leads to increased central venous pressure. Crackles in the lungs, or pulmonary crackles, happen when excess fluid accumulates in the lungs' airways, which can interfere with normal breathing and gas exchange. Together, these signs are crucial indicators of fluid overload, which needs to be monitored carefully in patients receiving IV therapy.

While other signs such as dry mucous membranes, bradycardia, and low blood pressure can reflect various conditions, they do not directly correlate with fluid overload in the same way as distended neck veins and pulmonary crackles do. In fact, dry mucous membranes would typically indicate dehydration, bradycardia may suggest a slowing heart rate not directly linked to fluid overload, and low blood pressure could be related to a variety of other factors, such as hypovolemia or shock. Thus, in the