Every day a child came into the school nurse's office with vague complaints, but sometimes it seemed to the nurse that the child just wanted to talk and be listened to for a while. Unfortunately, the child took up almost 15 minutes of the nurse's very busy day. Which of the following actions should be taken by the nurse?
a. Ask a staff person to talk with the child so the nurse could complete required tasks
b. Continue to listen while assessing for possible underlying problems
c. Refer the child to a private physician for follow-up on the constant physical symptoms the child presented
d. Talk to the teacher about not letting the child leave the classroom unless obvious symptoms (fever, vomiting) of illness were present
ANS: B
The nurse or teacher may be the only stable adult in the child's life who will listen without being judgmental. Therefore, one of the most important roles of the school nurse is to act as counselor and confidante. Children may come to the school nurse with various vague complaints, such as recurrent stomachaches, headaches, or sexually promiscuous behavior, and the nurse must look beyond the initial complaint to identify underlying problems.
You might also like to view...
A nurse obtains the health history of a client who is recently diagnosed with lung cancer and identifies that the client has a 60-pack-year smoking history. Which action is most important for the nurse to take when interviewing this client?
a. Tell the client that he needs to quit smoking to stop further cancer development. b. Encourage the client to be completely honest about both tobacco and marijuana use. c. Maintain a nonjudgmental attitude to avoid causing the client to feel guilty. d. Avoid giving the client false hope regarding cancer treatment and prognosis.
The nurse is caring for a patient who is having constant nociceptor pain. The nurse can best address the patient's pain during the perception phase of pain with which intervention?
a. Administer nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for moderate pain. b. Ask the physician if an opioid could be ordered to treat the patient's pain when severe. c. Engage the patient in conversation re-garding his family, hobbies, and plans following discharge from the facility. d. Determine if the patient typically takes a neurotransmitter uptake blocker medica-tion for pain control.
A client is being transferred to the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) after surgery. The client has an endotracheal tube (ET) in place
On assessment, the client has oxygen saturation of 95%, res-piratory rate of 14 breaths/min, and asymmetric chest wall expansion. What is the nurse's best action? a. Attempt to awaken the client. b. "Bag" the client with a resuscitation bag. c. Increase the client's fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2). d. Auscultate lung sounds bilaterally.
A female client is admitted with a number of diagnoses to the long-term care facility. The client is very upset about having to give up her own apartment
The nurse is reviewing the list of medical diagnoses in helping to collect data for the nursing care plan. Which diagnosis has the highest potential to result in long-term impairment for the client? A) Cellulitis of the left leg B) Arthritis C) Influenza D) Fracture of the femur