The nurse is performing pin-site care on a client in skeletal traction. Which normal finding should the nurse expect to note when assessing the pin sites?
- A. Loose but intact pin sites
- B. Clear drainage from the pin sites
- C. Purulent drainage from the pin sites
- D. Redness and swelling around the pin sites
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: A small amount of clear drainage ('weeping') may be expected after cleaning and removing crusting around the pin sites of skeletal traction. Pins should not be loose; if this is noted, the primary health care provider should be notified. Purulent drainage and redness and swelling around the pin sites may be indicative of an infection.
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The nurse is caring for a client who is receiving total parenteral nutrition and has a prescription for an intravenous intralipid infusion. What intervention should the nurse implement before hanging the intralipid infusion?
- A. Refrigerate the bottle of solution.
- B. Add 100 mL normal saline to the infusion bottle.
- C. Place an in-line filter on the administration tubing.
- D. Check the solution for separation or an oily residue.
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Intralipids provide nonprotein calories and prevent or correct fatty acid deficiency. The nurse checks the solution for separation or an oily appearance because this can indicate a spoiled or contaminated solution. Refrigeration renders the intralipid solution too thick to administer. Because they can affect the stability of the solution, the nurse avoids injecting additives into the intralipid infusion. Furthermore, an in-line filter is not used because it can disrupt the flow of solution by becoming clogged.
A preschooler with a history of cleft palate repair comes to the clinic for a routine well-child checkup. To determine whether this child is experiencing a long-term effect of cleft palate, which question should the nurse ask the parent?
- A. Does the child play with an imaginary friend?
- B. Was the child recently treated for pneumonia?
- C. Does the child respond when called by name?
- D. Has the child had any difficulty swallowing food?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: A child with cleft palate is at risk for developing frequent otitis media, which can result in hearing loss. Unresponsiveness may be an indication that the child is experiencing hearing loss. Option 1 is normal behavior for a preschool child. Many preschoolers with vivid imaginations have imaginary friends. Options 2 and 4 are unrelated to cleft palate after repair.
The nurse provides discharge instructions to a client who is recovering from testicular cancer surgery. Which instruction should the nurse include?
- A. To avoid driving a car for at least 2 weeks
- B. Not to be fitted for a prosthesis for at least 3 months
- C. To avoid sitting for long periods for at least 2 weeks
- D. To report any elevation in temperature to the primary health care provider
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: For the client who has had testicular surgery, the nurse should emphasize the importance of notifying the primary health care provider if chills, fever, drainage, redness, or discharge occurs. These symptoms may indicate the presence of an infection. One week after testicular surgery, the client may drive. Often, a prosthesis is inserted during surgery. Sitting needs to be avoided with prostate surgery because of the risk of hemorrhage, but this risk is not as high with testicular surgery.
During a health assessment, the client tells the nurse that she was diagnosed with endometriosis. Which explanation presented by the client demonstrates an understanding of the description of the condition?
- A. Endometriosis is known as primary dysmenorrhea.
- B. Endometriosis is what causes me the pain that occurs when I ovulate.
- C. Endometriosis is the condition that has caused me to stop menstruating.
- D. Endometriosis means that I have uterine tissue growing outside my uterus.
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Endometriosis is defined as the presence of tissue outside the uterus that resembles the endometrium in structure, function, and response to estrogen and progesterone during the menstrual cycle. Mittelschmerz refers to pelvic pain that occurs midway between menstrual periods coinciding with ovulation. Primary dysmenorrhea refers to menstrual pain without identified pathology. Amenorrhea, the cessation of menstruation for a period of at least 3 cycles or 6 months in a woman who has established a pattern of menstruation, can result from a variety of causes.
The nurse is caring for a client with a terminal condition who is dying. Which respiratory assessment findings should indicate to the nurse that death is imminent? Select all that apply.
- A. Dyspnea
- B. Cyanosis
- C. Tachypnea
- D. Kussmaul's respiration
- E. Irregular respiratory pattern
- F. Adventitious bubbling lung sounds
Correct Answer: A,B,E,F
Rationale: Respiratory assessment findings that indicate death is imminent include poor gas exchange as evidenced by hypoxia, dyspnea, or cyanosis; altered patterns of respiration, such as slow, labored, irregular, or Cheyne-Stokes pattern (alternating periods of apnea and deep, rapid breathing); increased respiratory secretions and adventitious bubbling lung sounds (death rattle); and irritation of the tracheobronchial airway as evidenced by hiccups, chest pain, fatigue, or exhaustion. Kussmaul's respirations are abnormally deep, very rapid sighing respirations characteristic of diabetic ketoacidosis. Tachypnea is defined as rapid breathing.