This digital document is an article from Kai Tiaki: Nursing New Zealand, published by New Zealand Nurses' Organisation on July 1, 2013. The length of the article is 4288 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
From the author: To interpret ABG results, nurses must understand the underlying physiological processes determining gas concentrations and pH regulation, and the way these are altered in disease. Use of a systematic approach when reading ABG results allows determination of hypoxaemia, hypercapnia, metabolic or respiratory acidosis and alkalosis, and whether these are uncompensated or compensated states.