A medical patient rings her call bell and expresses alarm to the nurse, stating, "I've just coughed up this blood. That can't be good, can it?" How can the nurse best determine whether the source of the blood was the patient's lungs?
A) Obtain a sample and test the pH of the blood, if possible.
B) Try to see if the blood is frothy or mixed with mucus.
C) Perform oral suctioning to see if blood is obtained.
D) Swab the back of the patient's throat to see if blood is present.
Ans: B
Feedback:
Though not definitive, blood from the lung is usually bright red, frothy, and mixed with sputum. Testing the pH of nonarterial blood samples is not common practice and would not provide important data. Similarly, oral suctioning and swabbing the patient's mouth would not reveal the source.
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