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In which client does the nurse consider the presence of an S3 heart sound to be normal?
- A. In a client who is in elementary school
- B. In a client who is an older adult
- C. In a client with an indwelling pacemaker
- D. In a client who is diagnosed with heart failure
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: A heart sound that follows S1 and S2 is called an S3 heart sound, or a ventricular gallop. Although an abnormal finding for many clients, this finding is considered normal in many pediatric clients, including a school-age client. In adults, the presence of S3 may signify heart failure, so this is not considered normal. Additionally, S3 is not considered normal for older adult clients nor for a client who has an indwelling pacemaker.
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The nurse provides care for a dying client following a massive myocardial infarction (MI). The nurse notes the client is experiencing dyspnea and has a barely palpable pulse. Which documentation of pulse quality by the nurse is appropriate?
- A. The client's pulse is full.
- B. The client is exhibiting a thready pulse.
- C. The client is experiencing a pulse deficit.
- D. The client's pulse indicates a regular rhythm.
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: When taking a client's pulse, the nurse notes its rate, rhythm, and quality. The pulse quality refers to its palpated volume. Pulse volume is described as feeling full, weak, or thready, meaning barely palpable. Documentation that the client's pulse is full is inaccurate. The nurse also determines any pulse deficit by counting the heart rate through auscultation at the apex while a second nurse simultaneously palpates and counts the radial pulse for a full minute. The difference, if any, is the pulse deficit. Documenting that the client's pulse indicates a regular rhythm is inaccurate because the documentation in this scenario focuses on the quality, not rhythm.
The nurse is assessing a client who has dyspnea and considering the process of gas exchange. Which structural characteristic of capillaries best enables gas exchange at the cellular level?
- A. Capillaries are one cell-layer thick.
- B. Capillaries form a complex network
- C. Capillaries transport blood back to the heart.
- D. Capillaries are elastic structures.
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Capillaries are one cell-layer thick and in direct contact with the cells of all tissues. This allows ease of gas exchange. Capillaries do form a complex network; however, it is the one cell structure that facilitates gas exchange. Venules and veins transport blood back to the heart. Arteries are elastic.
The nurse is reviewing lab work for a client whose blood CO2 level is elevated. The nurse is most correct to suspect an impairment of which?
- A. Alveoli
- B. Bronchi
- C. The pulmonary artery
- D. The pulmonary vein
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Gas exchange occurs in the lung where oxygen in inspired air exchanges for CO2 in the venous blood. The CO2 is then transferred to the alveoli to be exhaled. No gas exchange occurs in the bronchi. The pulmonary artery carries deoxygenated blood to the lungs, and the pulmonary vein brings oxygenated blood back to the heart to be pumped to the tissues.
When caring for a client with dysfunction in the conduction system, at which period would the nurse note that cells are resistant to stimulation?
- A. During polarization
- B. During depolarization
- C. During repolarization
- D. During the refractory period
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The refractory period is the time when cells are resistant to electrical stimulation. Repolarization is when the ions realign themselves to wait for an electrical signal. Depolarization occurs during muscle contraction when positive ions move inside the myocardial cell membrane and negative ions move outside. Before an impulse is generated, the cells are in a polarized state.
The nurse instructor is teaching a group of nursing students about adventitious heart sounds. The instructor explains that auscultation of the heart requires familiarization with normal and abnormal heart sounds. What would the instructor tell these students a ventricular gallop indicates in an adult?
- A. Heart failure
- B. Hypertensive heart disease
- C. Normal functioning
- D. Pericarditis
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: A sound that follows S1 and S2 is called an S3 heart sound or a ventricular gallop. An S3, normal in children, often is an indication of heart failure in an adult. An extra sound before S1 is an S4 heart sound, or atrial gallop. An S4 sound often is associated with hypertensive heart disease. A friction rub may cause a rough, grating, or scratchy sound that is an indication of pericarditis or inflammation of the pericardium.