Nokea
The nurse is performing wound care on a 68-year-old postsurgical patient. Which of the following practices violates the principles of surgical asepsis?
- A. Holding sterile objects above the level of the nurses waist
- B. Considering a 1 inch (2.5 cm) edge around the sterile field as being contaminated
- C. Pouring solution onto a sterile field cloth
- D. Opening the outermost flap of a sterile package away from the body
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Whenever a sterile barrier is breached, the area must be considered contaminated. Pouring solution onto a sterile field cloth violates surgical asepsis because moisture penetrating the cloth can carry microorganisms to the sterile field via capillary action. The other options are practices that help ensure surgical asepsis.
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The OR will be caring for a patient who will receive a transsacral block. For what patient would the use of a transsacral block be appropriate for pain control?
- A. A middle-aged man who is scheduled for a thoracotomy
- B. An older adult man who will undergo an inguinal hernia repair
- C. A 50-year-old woman who will be having a reduction mammoplasty
- D. A child who requires closed reduction of a right humerus fracture
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: A transsacral block produces anesthesia for the perineum and lower abdomen. Both a thoracotomy and breast reduction are in the chest region, and a transsacral block would not provide pain control for these procedures. A closed reduction of a right humerus is a procedure on the right arm, and a transsacral block would not provide pain control.
The nurse is caring for a patient who is scheduled to have a needle biopsy of the pleura. The patient has had a consultation with the anesthesiologist and a conduction block will be used. Which local conduction block can be used to block the nerves leading to the chest?
- A. Transsacral block
- B. Brachial plexus block
- C. Peudental block
- D. Paravertebral block
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Examples of common local conduction blocks include paravertebral anesthesia, which produces anesthesia of the nerves supplying the chest, abdominal wall, and extremities; brachial plexus block, which produces anesthesia of the arm; and transsacral (caudal) block, which produces anesthesia of the perineum and, occasionally, the lower abdomen. A peudental block was used in obstetrics before the almost-routine use of epidural anesthesia.
The patients surgery is nearly finished and the surgeon has opted to use tissue adhesives to close the surgical wound. This requires the nurse to prioritize assessments related to what complication?
- A. Hypothermia
- B. Anaphylaxis
- C. Infection
- D. Malignant hyperthermia
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Fibrin sealants are used in a variety of surgical procedures, and cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives are used to close wounds without the use of sutures. These sealants have been implicated in allergic reactions and anaphylaxis. There is not an increased risk of malignant hyperthermia, hypothermia, or infection because of the use of tissue adhesives.
The OR nurse acts in the circulating role during a patients scheduled cesarean section. For what task is this nurse solely responsible?
- A. Performing documentation
- B. Estimating the patients blood loss
- C. Setting up the sterile tables
- D. Keeping track of drains and sponges
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Main responsibilities of the circulating nurse include verifying consent; coordinating the team; and ensuring cleanliness, proper temperature and humidity, lighting, safe function of equipment, and the availability of supplies and materials. The circulating nurse monitors aseptic practices to avoid breaks in technique while coordinating the movement of related personnel as well as implementing fire safety precautions. The circulating nurse also monitors the patient and documents specific activities throughout the operation to ensure the patients safety and well-being. Estimating the patients blood loss is the surgeons responsibility; setting up the sterile tables is the responsibility of the first scrub; and keeping track of the drains and sponges is the joint responsibility of the circulating nurse and the scrub nurse.
An intraoperative nurse is applying interventions that will address surgical patients risks for perioperative positioning injury. Which of the following factors contribute to this increased risk for injury in the intraoperative phase of the surgical experience? Select all that apply.
- A. Absence of reflexes
- B. Diminished ability to communicate
- C. Loss of pain sensation
- D. Nausea resulting from anesthetic
- E. Reduced blood pressure
Correct Answer: A,B,C
Rationale: Loss of pain sense, reflexes, and ability to communicate subjects the intraoperative patient to possible injury. Nausea and low blood pressure are not central factors that contribute to this risk, though they are adverse outcomes.