Nursing Elites

1. How should a healthcare professional manage a patient with a chest tube?

• A. Ensuring the chest tube is secured properly and functioning
• B. Checking for air leaks and ensuring drainage is working
• C. Ensuring chest tube drainage is below chest level
• D. Ensuring proper documentation of chest tube output

Correct answer: D

Rationale: Proper documentation of chest tube output is crucial in the care of a patient with a chest tube. While ensuring the chest tube is secured and functioning, checking for air leaks, and maintaining drainage below chest level are important aspects of care, documentation of output is essential for monitoring the patient's condition, assessing the effectiveness of treatment, and ensuring appropriate interventions if needed.

2. A nurse is caring for a patient who is postoperative day 1 following abdominal surgery. What is the nurse's priority action to prevent complications?

• A. Encourage the patient to perform incentive spirometry.
• B. Assist the patient in ambulating around the unit.
• C. Reposition the patient every 2 hours.
• D. Administer pain medication as prescribed.

Correct answer: A

Rationale: The correct answer is to encourage the patient to perform incentive spirometry. Incentive spirometry helps prevent respiratory complications, such as atelectasis, by promoting deep breathing and optimal lung expansion. Ambulating, repositioning, and administering pain medication are important interventions but do not take precedence over preventing respiratory complications in the immediate postoperative period.

3. A client with diabetes mellitus is prescribed prednisone for a rash. Which statement by the client indicates the need for further teaching?

• A. I might have trouble falling asleep while taking prednisone
• B. I might feel emotional when I am on this medicine
• C. I might need to increase my regular insulin during this time
• D. I will gradually stop the prednisone when my rash goes away

Correct answer: D

Rationale: The correct answer is D. Prednisone should never be stopped abruptly; it must be tapered down. Stopping it suddenly can lead to adrenal insufficiency. Choices A, B, and C are all potential side effects or considerations when taking prednisone and do not indicate a need for further teaching.

4. A healthcare provider is reviewing the laboratory report of a client who is receiving heparin therapy for a deep vein thrombosis. Which of the following lab values indicates a therapeutic response to the therapy?

• A. PT of 12 seconds
• B. aPTT of 70 seconds
• C. Platelets of 150,000/mm3
• D. INR of 1.5

Correct answer: B

Rationale: An aPTT of 70 seconds is within the therapeutic range for a client receiving heparin therapy. The activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) is the most sensitive test to monitor heparin therapy. A therapeutic aPTT range for a client receiving heparin is usually 1.5 to 2.5 times the control value. Choices A, C, and D are not indicators of a therapeutic response to heparin therapy. PT measures the extrinsic pathway of coagulation and is not specific to monitoring heparin therapy. Platelet count is important to monitor for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, but it does not indicate the therapeutic response to heparin therapy. INR is used to monitor warfarin therapy, not heparin therapy.

5. The nurse is assessing the patient for respiratory complications of immobility. What action should the nurse take?

• A. Auscultate the entire lung region to assess lung sounds.
• B. Assess the patient at least every 4 hours.
• C. Focus auscultation on the upper lung fields.
• D. Inspect chest wall movements primarily during the expiratory cycle.

Correct answer: A

Rationale: Auscultating the entire lung region is the most appropriate action when assessing a patient for respiratory complications related to immobility. This approach helps the nurse identify any abnormalities in lung sounds, such as diminished breath sounds or the presence of secretions. Assessing the patient at regular intervals (choice B) is important but does not specifically address the respiratory assessment needed in this situation. Focusing auscultation on the upper lung fields (choice C) may miss potential issues in other areas. Inspecting chest wall movements primarily during the expiratory cycle (choice D) is not the most effective way to assess lung sounds and identify respiratory complications.

Similar Questions