The nurse is caring for a patient who has undergone creation of a urinary diversion. Forty-eight hours postoperatively, the nurses assessment reveals that the stoma is a dark purplish color. What is the nurses most appropriate response?
- A. Document the presence of a healthy stoma.
- B. Assess the patient for further signs and symptoms of infection.
- C. Inform the primary care provider that the vascular supply may be compromised.
- D. Liaise with the wound-ostomy-continence (WOC) nurse because the ostomy appliance around the stoma may be too loose.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: A healthy stoma is pink or red. A change from this normal color to a dark purplish color suggests that the vascular supply may be compromised. A loose ostomy appliance and infections do not cause a dark purplish stoma.
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A 42-year-old woman comes to the clinic complaining of occasional urinary incontinence when she sneezes. The clinic nurse should recognize what type of incontinence?
- A. Stress incontinence
- B. Reflex incontinence
- C. Overflow incontinence
- D. Functional incontinence
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Stress incontinence is the involuntary loss of urine through an intact urethra as a result of sudden increase in intra-abdominal pressure. Reflex incontinence is loss of urine due to hyperreflexia or involuntary urethral relaxation in the absence of normal sensations usually associated with voiding. Overflow incontinence is an involuntary urine loss associated with overdistension of the bladder. Functional incontinence refers to those instances in which the function of the lower urinary tract is intact, but other factors (outside the urinary system) make it difficult or impossible for the patient to reach the toilet in time for voiding.
A 52-year-old patient is scheduled to undergo ileal conduit surgery. When planning this patients discharge education, what is the most plausible nursing diagnosis that the nurse should address?
- A. Impaired mobility related to limitations posed by the ileal conduit
- B. Deficient knowledge related to care of the ileal conduit
- C. Risk for deficient fluid volume related to urinary diversion
- D. Risk for autonomic dysreflexia related to disruption of the sacral plexus
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The patient will most likely require extensive teaching about the care and maintenance of a new urinary diversion. A diversion does not create a serious risk of fluid volume deficit. Mobility is unlikely to be impaired after the immediate postsurgical recovery. The sacral plexus is not threatened by the creation of a urinary diversion.
A patient has been admitted to the medical unit with a diagnosis of ureteral colic secondary to urolithiasis. When planning the patients admission assessment, the nurse should be aware of the signs and symptoms that are characteristic of this diagnosis? Select all that apply.
- A. Diarrhea
- B. High fever
- C. Hematuria
- D. Urinary frequency
- E. Acute pain
Correct Answer: C,D,E
Rationale: Stones lodged in the ureter (ureteral obstruction) cause acute, excruciating, colicky, wavelike pain, radiating down the thigh and to the genitalia. Often, the patient has a desire to void, but little urine is passed, and it usually contains blood because of the abrasive action of the stone. This group of symptoms is called ureteral colic. Diarrhea is not associated with this presentation and a fever is usually absent due to the noninfectious nature of the health problem.
A patient has a flaccid bladder secondary to a spinal cord injury. The nurse recognizes this patients high risk for urinary retention and should implement what intervention in the patients plan of care?
- A. Relaxation techniques
- B. Sodium restriction
- C. Lower abdominal massage
- D. Double voiding
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: To enhance emptying of a flaccid bladder, the patient may be taught to double void. After each voiding, the patient is instructed to remain on the toilet, relax for 1 to 2 minutes, and then attempt to void again in an effort to further empty the bladder. Relaxation does not affect the neurologic etiology of a flaccid bladder. Sodium restriction and massage are similarly ineffective.
The nurse and urologist have both been unsuccessful in catheterizing a patient with a prostatic obstruction and a full bladder. What approach does the nurse anticipate the physician using to drain the patients bladder?
- A. Insertion of a suprapubic catheter
- B. Scheduling the patient immediately for a prostatectomy
- C. Application of warm compresses to the perineum to assist with relaxation
- D. Medication administration to relax the bladder muscles and reattempting catheterization in 6 hours
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: When the patient cannot void, catheterization is used to prevent overdistention of the bladder. In the case of prostatic obstruction, attempts at catheterization by the urologist may not be successful, requiring insertion of a suprapubic catheter. A prostatectomy may be necessary, but would not be undertaken for the sole purpose of relieving a urethral obstruction. Delaying by applying compresses or administering medications could result in harm.
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