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The nurse is obtaining vital signs for a client in the clinic who has had a cardiac transplant. The nurse obtains an apical heart rate of 110 beats/minute. What is a priority action by the nurse?
- A. Obtain an electrocardiogram.
- B. Notify the physician.
- C. No action is required because the transplanted heart beats faster than the natural heart.
- D. Administer a calcium channel blocker to decrease the heart rate.
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The transplanted heart beats faster than the client's natural heart, averaging about 100 to 110 beats/minute, because nerves that affect heart rate have been severed. The new heart also takes longer to increase the heart rate in response to exercise. If the client is asymptomatic, there is no reason to obtain an ECG or notify the physician. The nurse would not administer the calcium channel blocker without a physician's prescription.
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The nurse is caring for a client who has had cardiothoracic surgery, and the nurse is palpating the peripheral pulses. The nurse cannot palpate the left lower extremity pulse. What is the first action by the nurse?
- A. Call the physician.
- B. Call the charge nurse.
- C. Apply a vasodilator such as nitroglycerin cream on the skin surface and then palpate.
- D. Use a Doppler ultrasound device.
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Palpate the peripheral pulses or use a Doppler ultrasound device if the pulses are not palpable. Prior to calling the physician or notifying the charge nurse, attempt to use the Doppler, and then, if no pulse is heard, the nurse may notify either. Administration of medications without a physician's prescription is contraindicated.
A client was driving a car without wearing a seat belt and slid off the road and hit a tree. The client's chest was crushed against a steering wheel. What type of lethal injury does the nurse anticipate the client may have suffered?
- A. Cardiac tamponade
- B. A pleural effusion
- C. Bladder trauma
- D. Fractured pelvis
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: A nonpenetrating injury of the chest, such as being crushed against a steering wheel, may cause bruising and bleeding of the heart. Because the pericardium encloses the heart, blood accumulates in the pericardial space, resulting in cardiac tamponade. Although a fractured pelvis and bladder trauma may be sustained, they are generally not lethal. A pleural effusion would not result from this traumatic injury.
The nursing instructor is giving a class on assessing cardiac clients after thoracic surgery. What assessment is most important for the nurse to perform when caring for this client?
- A. Pulmonary artery pressure
- B. Temperature
- C. Skin and mentation
- D. Blood pressure
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The nurse assesses the blood pressure (BP) and pulse rate in both arms after thoracic surgery. Although it is necessary for the nurse to also assess pulmonary artery pressure, temperature, skin, and mentation after thoracic surgery, blood pressure and pulse rate are the most essential assessments.
A client has been admitted for a commissurotomy. The nurse knows that a commissurotomy repairs which of the following?
- A. A ventricle
- B. A valve
- C. Part of the myocardium
- D. An artery
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Heart valves need surgical repair or replacement if they become narrowed (stenosed) or stretched (incompetent). One method of repair is commissurotomy (opening adhesions in the valve cusps), which is done without direct visualization of the valve.
A client is 2 days postoperative from mitral valve replacement and is in pain at an 8 on a 0 to 10 scale. What intervention(s) can the nurse provide to control the pain before it gets to this level? Select all that apply.
- A. Suggest the client be placed on a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump.
- B. Administer a non-narcotic analgesic between prescribed doses of narcotic analgesics.
- C. Administer the pain medication prior to the pain becoming severe.
- D. Wait until the client asks for the pain medication.
- E. Administer the narcotic analgesic more frequently.
Correct Answer: A,B,C
Rationale: Small, frequent self-administration of an opioid drug controls acute pain within consistently tolerable levels. Administer non-narcotic analgesics between prescribed doses of narcotic analgesics. Non-narcotics have a different mechanism of action and are not likely to cause respiratory depression or depressed level of consciousness if given concurrently with narcotics. Pain is more easily controlled by giving analgesic medication before the pain becomes severe, so the nurse would not wait until the client to ask for the pain medication. The nurse cannot administer more of the narcotic than the physician prescriptions.