Nokea
A nurse is noting from a client's neurologic assessment findings that the client's motor impulses are interrupted from the brain to the spinal cord. It also appears that the client lacks sensory impulses from the peripheral sensory neurons to the brain. Which area has the deficit?
- A. Midbrain
- B. Medulla oblongata
- C. Pons
- D. Subarachnoid space
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The medulla oblongata lies below the pons and transmits motor impulses from the brain to the spinal cord, and sensory impulses from the peripheral sensory neurons to the brain. The pons is part of the brainstem. The midbrain forms the forward part of the brainstem and connects the pons and the cerebellum with the two cerebral hemispheres. The subarachnoid space lies between the pie matter and the arachnoids membrane.
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The nurse collects data regarding a client's ability to detect sensation in the upper extremity. Which nursing action(s) is appropriate? Select all that apply.
- A. Place a warm cotton ball on the client's arm.
- B. Use a safety pin to stroke the client's fingers.
- C. Use a needle to introduce a prick to the client's skin.
- D. Drag a tube filled with cold water on the client's arm.
- E. Place a tube filled with warm water on the client's hand.
Correct Answer: A,B,D,E
Rationale: The nurse evaluates the extremities for sensitivity to heat, cold, touch, and pain. Various objects can be used by the nurse for this purpose, including cotton balls and tubes filled with hot or cold water. Sharp objects may be used but should not pierce the skin; therefore, it is appropriate for the nurse to stroke the client's fingers with a safety pin but not to prick the skin with a needle.
The critical care nurse is giving end-of-shift report on a client. The nurse uses the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) to assess the level of consciousness (LOC) of a female client and reports to the oncoming nurse that the client has an LOC of 6. What does an LOC score of 6 in a client indicate?
- A. Comatose
- B. Somnolence
- C. Stupor
- D. Normal
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The GSC is used to measure the LOC. The scale consists of three parts: eye opening response, best verbal response, and best motor response. A normal response is 15. A score of 7 or less is considered comatose. Therefore, a score of 6 indicates the client is in a state of coma and not in any other state such as stupor or somnolence. The evaluations are recorded on a graphic sheet where connecting lines show an increase or decrease in the LOC.
A client presents to the emergency department status postseizure. The health care provider wants to measure CSF pressure. What test might be ordered on this client?
- A. Lumbar puncture
- B. Echoencephalography
- C. Nerve conduction studies
- D. EMG
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Changes in CSF occur in many neurologic disorders. A lumbar puncture (spinal tap) is performed to obtain samples of CSF from the subarachnoid space for laboratory examination and to measure CSF pressure. Echoencephalography records the electrical impulses generated by the brain. Nerve conduction studies measure the speed with which the nerve impulse travels along the peripheral nerve. Electromyography studies the changes in the electrical potential of muscles and the nerves supplying the muscles.
The nurse provides care for a client with a deteriorating neurologic status. The nurse collects data at the beginning of the shift that reveals a falling blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR), and the client makes no motor response to stimuli. Which documentation of neuromuscular status is most appropriate?
- A. Flaccidity
- B. Abnormal posture
- C. Weak muscular tone
- D. Decorticate posturing
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The nurse should document flaccidity when the client makes no motor response to stimuli. Clients with impaired cerebral function manifest abnormal posturing, which is documented by the nurse as either decorticate posturing (decorticate rigidity), a position in which the arms are flexed, fists are clenched, and the legs are extended or decerebrate posturing (decerebrate rigidity), when the extremities are stiff and rigid. Muscle tone is documented using a scale of 0 to 5; therefore, weak muscular tone is not the most appropriate documentation.
The physician's office nurse is caring for a client who has a history of a cerebral aneurysm. Which diagnostic test does the nurse anticipate to monitor the status of the aneurysm?
- A. Myelogram
- B. Electroencephalogram
- C. Echoencephalography
- D. Cerebral angiography
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The nurse would anticipate a cerebral angiography, which detects distortion of the cerebral arteries and veins. A myelogram detects abnormalities of the spinal canal. An electroencephalogram records electrical impulses of the brain. An echoencephalography is an ultrasound of the structures of the brain.