The nurse is caring for a patient who just died. Which action should the nurse take first to determine if the patient is an organ or tissue donor?
a. Delegate the task to nursing assistive per-sonnel (NAP).
b. Determine the patient's legal representa-tive.
c. Request a copy of the patient's driver's license.
d. Ask the spouse to sign an organ donation consent.
B
The nurse needs to determine if patient is an organ/tissue donor. Federal law mandates that fam-ily members be given a chance to authorize organ/tissue donation. The nurse should then call the organ/tissue request and procurement team (consult facility policy). Discussing organ donation and obtaining consent are tasks that the nurse cannot delegate because they require clinical judgment and critical thinking skills and are usually done by a special team. A copy of the pa-tient's driver's license can be impractical or impossible to obtain soon enough to donate viable organs; generally the family knows the patient's wishes about organ donation. If the spouse is the patient's legal representative, he or she can provide consent.
You might also like to view...
Emergency response personnel are wearing gowns, gloves, goggles, and masks. In which decontamination zone are these personnel most likely working?
1. hot 2. warm 3. cold 4. yellow
The nurse is participating in a community event to prevent adolescent pregnancy. The nurse teaches parents of adolescent girls that the single most important way to reduce the risk of pregnancy is to:
A) tell the teens that they do not want them to have sex until they are in college. B) help teens develop a set of values and pride in themselves. C) provide teens with contraceptives. D) discourage dating until teens are old enough to handle the pressure.
For some drugs, the dependence is mostly _______________, whereas for others, a user may develop a heavy physical dependence on the drug with just a few uses.
Fill in the blank(s) with the appropriate word(s).
A pt is admitted to the hospital for treatment of pneumonia. Which nursing assessment finding best indicates that the patient is responding to antibiotics?
a. Wheezing, oxygen at 2 L/min, respiratory rate 26, no shortness of breath or chills b. Temperature 99 F, lung sounds clear, pulse oximetry on 2 L/min at 98%, cough with yellow sputum c. Cough, clear sputum, temperature 99 F, pulse oximetry at 96% on room air d. Feeling tired, respiratory rate at 28 on 2 L/min of oxygen, audible breath sounds