A nurse is assessing a client who has dehydration due to prolonged diarrhea. Which of the following findings should the nurse expect?

Hypotension is an expected finding in a client who has dehydration caused by prolonged diarrhea. Dehydration leads to decreased intravascular fluid volume, which reduces venous return and cardiac output. As a compensatory response, heart rate increases (tachycardia), and when compensation is insufficient, blood pressure drops, resulting in hypotension. This is a classic sign of hypovolemia. Crackles are associated with fluid overload in the lungs — such as in heart failure or pulmonary edema — and would not be expected in dehydration, which involves fluid deficit rather than excess. Bradycardia is incorrect because the cardiovascular response to dehydration is tachycardia as the body attempts to maintain cardiac output despite reduced volume. Edema is a sign of fluid retention or excess, not fluid deficit; it would be expected in conditions such as heart failure, renal failure, or hypoalbuminemia rather than dehydration. Understanding the pathophysiology of fluid volume deficit is essential for recognizing and responding to dehydration-related deterioration in clinical practice.