The physician orders the insertion of a salem sump nasogastric tube (NGT). You insert the NGT into A.G.and connect it to intermittent low wall suction
How will you check for placement of the NGT?
• Several different methods exist to check placement. A combination of two methods might be best.
• X-ray confirmation is the most reliable way to determine initial NGT placement.
• Aspirate and check the pH of the gastric contents (should be green-yellow bile); gastric aspirates
have acidic pH values of 4 or less.
• Using air auscultation (listening to the epigastric area for a rush of air or gurgling while injecting
air into the NGT) is no longer considered best practice and should not be done. This method
has been associated with a high incidence of error. Air injected into NGTs placed in the lungs or
duodenum is also audible in the gastric area.
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What will be an ideal response?
A 72-year-old woman with a diagnosis of angina pectoris has presented to her nurse practitioner because her chest pain on exertion has become more frequent and longer lasting in recent days
The nurse should understand that this woman's chest pain is directly attributable to which of the following pathophysiological processes? A) Inflammation and physical irritation of the lumens of coronary arteries B) Accumulation of cellular debris in the myocardium after the rupture of atheromas C) Ischemia of cardiac muscle cells D) Accumulation of lactic acid in cardiac muscle
A client taking an anxiolytic drug should avoid the simultaneous use of:
a. antihypertensives. c. B-complex vitamins. b. central nervous system depressants. d. ascorbic acid supplements.
If the patient asks the nurse where the medication is placed during an epidural block, the most appropriate response is that the anesthetic is introduced:
a. Near the dural sac in the lumbar region of the spine b. Into the intravenous line in the arm c. Near the dural sac in the cervical area of the spine d. To the perineal area