A patient asks the nurse how a prescribed diuretic can help heart failure. What is the nurse's best response?
a. "Urinating more prevents heart failure from damaging your kidneys."
b. "Diuretics reduce blood pressure so your heart won't have to work as hard."
c. "Taking a diuretic reduces salt levels so you don't have to limit your intake of salty foods."
d. "The diuretic counteracts the side effects of the other drugs prescribed for your heart failure."
B
The actions of diuretic drugs help heart failure in several ways. They can relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure so that less effort is needed for the heart contraction to move blood into the general circulation. Removing extra fluid from the circulation also can reduce blood pressure. In addition, some diuretics work on the heart muscle itself.
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The brother of a client with schizophrenia says to the nurse: "I would like to help my brother, but he just doesn't seem to understand he has a serious psychological problem. He tells me he is fine and that he just gets a little weird occasionally."
The nurse should explain: 1. "This is why it is so difficult to treat, since lack of insight is a large part of the disease." 2. "Because of the stigma attached to mental illness, most people with schizophrenia won't tell others they have the disease." 3. "Many people with schizophrenia use denial as a coping mechanism." 4. "He needs to take his medications when having psychotic episodes."
For a client with an acute upper respiratory tract infection, which of these diets is usually prescribed?
a. bland foods c. clear liquid b. NPO d. normal
A patient's cardiac monitor shows a rate of 89 with a PR interval of 0.2 second and a QRS of 0.10 second. What is the most important nursing action?
1. Start the patient on O2 at 4 L/min via nasal cannula. 2. Obtain a 12-lead ECG immediately. 3. Report these abnormal findings to the health care provider. 4. Continue to monitor the patient's cardiac status.
In assessing the structure of the community in order to identify the needs of its population, the nurse will focus on:
1. Collecting demographic data on age distribution 2. Visiting neighborhood schools to review health records 3. Interviewing clients to determine the cultural composition of the subgroups 4. Observing locations where services, such as water sanitation, are provided