The suitability check: what the nurse assesses before opening a single sachet
A proper visit begins with ten minutes of questions and measurements, and this stage is diagnostic, not ceremonial. The nurse takes your blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation and temperature, and asks about kidney disease, heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, pregnancy, current medications and allergies. Each question maps to a real failure mode. Extra fluid volume is exactly what a weakened heart or impaired kidneys cannot handle — infuse a litre into someone with undiagnosed heart failure and you can push fluid into their lungs. A history of allergic reactions changes which additives are safe. Certain medications interact with magnesium or potassium in the bag.
Vital signs are the objective half of the check. Very low blood pressure with a racing heart suggests dehydration severe enough that a clinic, not a sofa, is the right setting. A fever changes the picture entirely, because masking an infection with fluids and vitamins delays real treatment. A responsible nurse will decline or defer the drip in these cases and escalate to the provider's doctor — and that refusal is the strongest quality signal in this entire industry. If your answers to the screening questions visibly do not matter to what happens next, stop the visit.