NCLEX-RN Kidney Injury Triage Cheat Sheet (Free Printable)
Free NCLEX-RN kidney injury triage cheat sheet — printable study guide for nursing students. Every fact verified against authoritative sources.
If you are preparing for the NCLEX-RN, acute kidney injury is one of those topics where the cause changes everything. This cheat sheet breaks AKI triage into three columns: prerenal, where perfusion fails upstream and the tubules stay intact; intrinsic, where damage sits within the kidney in the tubules, glomeruli, interstitium, or vessels; and postrenal, where outflow is obstructed downstream. For each class you get the causes, from ECF volume depletion and heart failure to nephrotoxins like vancomycin and aminoglycosides, plus urine findings such as oliguria under 500 ml/day, the labs to expect, and the complications that matter most, including hyperkalemia and pulmonary edema.
The exam tests this because treatment is directed at the cause, so telling prerenal from intrinsic decides the fix. Use the sheet to quiz yourself: match a scenario to a column, check the urine indices, then name the danger signs. One reminder printed on the sheet: values vary by laboratory, so follow your facility protocol.
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Values vary by laboratory - follow your facility protocol.
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