A 24-year-old pregnant woman at 26 weeks' gestation is experiencing her third pregnancy. The patient's obstetric history includes one full-term birth and one preterm birth; both children are alive and well
Today, the patient arrives at the clinic with complaints of fatigue, insomnia, and continuous backache. She reports that she is a nurse on an oncology unit and is worried about continuing to work her 12-hour shifts. What advice by the nurse would be most appropriate?
A.
"Can you ask your manager about light-duty work at your job?"
B.
"See if you can take more breaks at work to rest and drink water."
C.
"With your previous premature birth, you might need to reduce your working hours."
D.
"You can continue to work as long as you want to and feel able to."
ANS: C
Although many women do continue to work throughout their pregnancies, certain medical problems and pregnancy complications are a red flag for the woman to reduce her work hours. Examples of these conditions include back problems, preterm labor (both of which this woman has), diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, hypertension, and a history of spontaneous abortion. Light duty may be an option in addition to decreasing the work hours. Taking more breaks might be advised as well, but with this woman's history and current health complaints she should consider decreasing her working hours. Other factors the nurse should discuss with the patient are the amount of heavy physical labor she does and her exposure to chemotherapeutic agents, both of which are possible environmental hazards to the pregnancy.
You might also like to view...
A nurse is caring for a morbidly obese client. What comfort measure is most important for the nurse to delegate to the unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP)?
a. Designating "quiet time" so the client can rest b. Ensuring siderails are not causing excess pressure c. Providing oral care before and after meals and snacks d. Relaying any reports of pain to the registered nurse
Indirect costs in a nurse manager's budget would include:
a. Benefits. b. Expected raises. c. Shift differential. d. Travel.
The nurse obtaining a blood pressure in both of the client's arms determines that there is a difference of 15 mmHg in the systolic readings between the arms and repeats the assessment with the same results. Based on this data, which does the nurse suspect?
A. Unilateral arterial obstruction. B. Anxiety. C. Shock. D. Inaccurate technique.
While changing a patient's dressing the nurse notes thick yellow-green drainage on the gauze. How should the nurse document this wounds drainage:
a) Purulent b) Serous