The nurse is preparing to administer a medication to a patient to decrease the cerebral edema caused by a brain tumor. This medication is most likely a(n):
1. Antiseizure medication
2. Pain medication
3. Glucocorticoid
4. Antispasmodic
3
Rationale 1: Antiseizure medication is used to reduce the excitability threshold of brain cells to the stimuli that result in seizure activity. These medications do not reduce cerebral edema.
Rationale 2: Pain medications do not reduce cerebral edema or lower intracranial pressure. These medications can be dangerous in the neurologic patient as they can alter level of consciousness.
Rationale 3: Glucocorticoids are the mainstay of treatment for vasogenic cerebral edema. These agents decrease the tissue swelling associated with brain tumors and manage some of the signs and symptoms that patients experience. Glucocorticoid therapy with dexamethasone has been the standard treatment for tumor-associated edema.
Rationale 4: Antispasmodic medications do not cross the blood-brain barrier and have no effect on cerebral tissue.
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In the diabetic class on exercise, the nurse stresses that insulin users should test their blood glucose level before exercising. At what blood glucose level would the diabetic need to eat a carbohydrate snack before exercising?
A) 70 mg/dL B) 100 mg/dL C) 110 mg/dL D) 130 mg/dL
As elements of reasoning and critical thought, why are implications or consequences of outcomes important to consider?
a. They can help the nurse make confident clinical decisions. b. They help the nurse understand complex ideas and events. c. They help the nurse understand how the patient is responding to the demands of the treatment. d. They can be expected or unexpected and affect the completion of a nursing intervention.
A nurse asks a 15-year-old boy to think of an explanation for a simple puzzle. When he is unable to come up with any answer at all, the nurse recognizes that he may not yet have successfully mastered which of Piaget's levels of cognitive development?
a. Sensorimotor b. Preoperational c. Concrete operations d. Formal operations