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The nurse is completing a patients health history with regard to potential risk factors for lung disease. What interview question addresses the most significant risk factor for respiratory diseases?
- A. Have you ever been employed in a factory, smelter, or mill?
- B. Does anyone in your family have any form of lung disease?
- C. Do you currently smoke, or have you ever smoked?
- D. Have you ever lived in an area that has high levels of air pollution?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Smoking is the single most important contributor to lung disease, exceeding the significance of environmental, occupational, and genetic factors.
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While assessing a patient who has pneumonia, the nurse has the patient repeat the letter E while the nurse auscultates. The nurse notes that the patients voice sounds are distorted and that the letter A is audible instead of the letter E. How should this finding be documented?
- A. Bronchophony
- B. Egophony
- C. Whispered pectoriloquy
- D. Sonorous wheezes
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: This finding would be documented as egophony, which can be best assessed by instructing the patient to repeat the letter E. The distortion produced by consolidation transforms the sound into a clearly heard A rather than E. Bronchophony describes vocal resonance that is more intense and clearer than normal. Whispered pectoriloquy is a very subtle finding that is heard only in the presence of rather dense consolidation of the lungs. Sound is so enhanced by the consolidated tissue that even whispered words are heard. Sonorous wheezes are not defined as a voice sound, but rather as a breath sound.
While assessing an acutely ill patients respiratory rate, the nurse assesses four normal breaths followed by an episode of apnea lasting 20 seconds. How should the nurse document this finding?
- A. Eupnea
- B. Apnea
- C. Biots respiration
- D. Cheyne-Stokes
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The nurse will document that the patient is demonstrating a Biots respiration pattern. Biots respiration is characterized by periods of normal breathing (three to four breaths) followed by varying periods of apnea (usually 10 seconds to 1 minute). Cheyne-Stokes is a similar respiratory pattern, but it involves a regular cycle where the rate and depth of breathing increase and then decrease until apnea occurs. Biots respiration is not characterized by the increase and decrease in the rate and depth, as characterized by Cheyne-Stokes. Eupnea is a normal breathing pattern of 12 to 18 breaths per minute. Bradypnea is a slower-than-normal rate (<10 breaths per minute), with normal depth and regular rhythm, and no apnea.
The ED nurse is assessing the respiratory function of a teenage girl who presented with acute shortness of breath. Auscultation reveals continuous wheezes during inspiration and expiration. This finding is most suggestive of what?
- A. Pleurisy
- B. Emphysema
- C. Asthma
- D. Pneumonia
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Sibilant wheezes are commonly associated with asthma. They do not normally accompany pleurisy, emphysema, or pneumonia.
The nurse is assessing the respiratory status of a patient who is experiencing an exacerbation of her emphysema symptoms. When preparing to auscultate, what breath sounds should the nurse anticipate?
- A. Absence of breath sounds
- B. Wheezing with discontinuous breath sounds
- C. Faint breath sounds with prolonged expiration
- D. Faint breath sounds with fine crackles
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The breath sounds of the patient with emphysema are faint or often completely inaudible. When they are heard, the expiratory phase is prolonged.
The nurse is caring for a patient admitted with an acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. During assessment, the nurse finds that the patient is experiencing increased dyspnea. What is the most accurate measurement of the concentration of oxygen in the patients blood?
- A. A capillary blood sample
- B. Pulse oximetry
- C. An arterial blood gas (ABG) study
- D. A complete blood count (CBC)
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The arterial oxygen tension (partial pressure or PaO2) indicates the degree of oxygenation of the blood, and the arterial carbon dioxide tension (partial pressure or PaCO2) indicates the adequacy of alveolar ventilation. ABG studies aid in assessing the ability of the lungs to provide adequate oxygen and remove carbon dioxide and the ability of the kidneys to reabsorb or excrete bicarbonate ions to maintain normal body pH. Capillary blood samples are venous blood, not arterial blood, so they are not as accurate as an ABG. Pulse oximetry is a useful clinical tool but does not replace ABG measurement, because it is not as accurate. A CBC does not indicate the concentration of oxygen.