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A patient recovering from thoracic surgery is on long-term mechanical ventilation and becomes very frustrated when he tries to communicate. What intervention should the nurse perform to assist the patient?
- A. Assure the patient that everything will be all right and that remaining calm is the best strategy
- B. Ask a family member to interpret what the patient is trying to communicate
- C. Ask the physician to wean the patient off the mechanical ventilator to allow the patient to speak freely
- D. Express empathy and then encourage the patient to write, use a picture board, or spell words with an alphabet board
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: If the patient uses an alternative method of communication, he will feel in better control and likely be less frustrated. Assuring the patient that everything will be all right offers false reassurance, and telling him not to be upset minimizes his feelings. Neither of these methods helps the patient to communicate. In a patient with an endotracheal or tracheostomy tube, the family members are also likely to encounter difficulty interpreting the patients wishes. Making them responsible for interpreting the patients gestures may frustrate the family. The patient may be weaned off a mechanical ventilator only when the physiologic parameters for weaning have been met.
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The nurse is assessing a patient who has a chest tube in place for the treatment of a pneumothorax. The nurse observes that the water level in the water seal rises and falls in rhythm with the patients respirations. How should the nurse best respond to this assessment finding?
- A. Gently reinsert the chest tube 1 to 2 cm and observe if the water level stabilizes
- B. Inform the physician promptly that there is in imminent leak in the drainage system
- C. Encourage the patient to do deep breathing and coughing exercises
- D. Document that the chest drainage system is operating as it is intended
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Fluctuation of the water level in the water seal shows effective connection between the pleural cavity and the drainage chamber and indicates that the drainage system remains patent. No further action is needed.
The nurse caring for a patient with an endotracheal tube recognizes several disadvantages of an endotracheal tube. What would the nurse recognize as a disadvantage of endotracheal tubes?
- A. Cognition is decreased
- B. Daily arterial blood gases (ABGs) are necessary
- C. Slight tracheal bleeding is anticipated
- D. The cough reflex is depressed
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: There are several disadvantages of an endotracheal tube. Disadvantages include suppression of the patients cough reflex, thickening of secretions, and depressed swallowing reflexes. Ulceration and stricture of the larynx or trachea may develop, but bleeding is not an expected finding. The tube should not influence cognition and daily ABGs are not always required.
A patient is being admitted to the preoperative holding area for a thoracotomy. Preoperative teaching includes what?
- A. Correct use of a ventilator
- B. Correct use of incentive spirometry
- C. Correct use of a mini-nebulizer
- D. Correct technique for rhythmic breathing
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Instruction in the use of incentive spirometry begins before surgery to familiarize the patient with its correct use. You do not teach a patient the use of a ventilator; you explain that he may be on a ventilator to help him breathe. Rhythmic breathing and mini-nebulizers are unnecessary.
A critical care nurse is caring for a client with an endotracheal tube who is on a ventilator. The nurse knows that meticulous airway management of this patient is necessary. What is the main rationale for this?
- A. Maintaining a patent airway
- B. Preventing the need for suctioning
- C. Maintaining the sterility of the patients airway
- D. Increasing the patients lung compliance
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Maintaining a patent (open) airway is achieved through meticulous airway management, whether in an emergency situation such as airway obstruction or in long-term management, as in caring for a patient with an endotracheal or a tracheostomy tube. The other answers are incorrect.
The home care nurse is planning to begin breathing retraining exercises with a client newly admitted to the home health service. The home care nurse knows that breathing retraining is especially indicated if the patient has what diagnosis?
- A. Asthma
- B. Pneumonia
- C. Lung cancer
- D. COPD
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Breathing retraining is especially indicated in patients with COPD and dyspnea. Breathing retraining may be indicated in patients with other lung pathologies, but not to the extent indicated in patients with COPD.