The nurse is caring for a preoperative patient who expresses a fear of dying. What action should the nurse take?
a. Tell the patient everything will be all right.
b. Explain the national death rate from surgery.
c. Allow the patient time to express concerns.
d. Ask the family to comfort the patient.
ANS: C
C. Allow patients to express their concerns to allow inaccurate information to be corrected. A. Do not give false reassurance. B. National statistics are not likely helpful to the individual patient situation. D. The nurse should collect data first about the fear for planning care and not pass the issue to the family.
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You note that a patient has anisocoria on examination. Pathologic causes of this include which of the following?
A) Horner's syndrome B) Benign anisocoria C) Differing light intensities for each eye D) Eye prosthesis
The nurse is giving the caregivers general advice on how to talk to their toddler when the child is intrusive and needs redirection. The nurse would advise the caregivers to:
a. speak as firmly and as loudly as necessary to let the child know that he or she has done something to displease you b. send the child to time-out to think about how he or she needs to interact nicely with others without interrupting c. let the child know that he or she can have an appointment to talk with the caregiver later and give the child a time d. get at eye level with the toddler and touch him or her gently on the shoulder to get his or her attention before speaking
Following a parathyroidectomy, which electrolyte should the nurse most closely monitor?
a. Potassium b. Sodium c. Magnesium d. Calcium
A patient who has asthma and who is known to the primary care NP calls the NP after hours and asks for a refill of an albuterol metered-dose inhaler. The patient has not been seen in the clinic for more than a year. The NP should:
a. call the pharmacy to order the medication with several refills. b. send an electronic prescription to the pharmacy for one time only. c. send the patient to the emergency department for evaluation of symptoms. d. refill the drug and tell the patient that an office visit is necessary for further refills.