The mother of a 2-day-old male has been informed that her child has sepsis. The mother is distraught, and says, "I should have known that something was wrong. Why didn't I see that he was so sick?" The best reply is:
1. "Newborns have immature immune function at birth, and illness is very hard to detect."
2. "Your mothering skills will improve with time. You should take the newborn class."
3. "Your baby didn't get enough active acquired immunity from you during the pregnancy."
4. "The immunity your baby gets in utero doesn't start to function until he is 4–8 weeks of age."
1
Rationale:
1. The immune system of a newborn lacks response to pyrogens and presents a limited inflammatory response, thus the signs and symptoms of infection are often subtle and nonspecific in the newborn.
2. This response does not address the physiology of neonatal infection, and is not therapeutic because it is blaming.
3. The mother develops active acquired immunity, which is passed to the newborn transplacentally as passive acquired immunity. This immunity is to the illnesses and infections she has had or been immunized against.
4. The passive acquired immunity a newborn receives from its mother is effective at birth, and lasts from four weeks to eight months, depending on the specific antibody.
You might also like to view...
A surgeon prescribes potassium chloride 20 mEq by mouth for a patient with a nasogastric (NG) tube for gastric drainage. How should the nurse proceed?
1) Seek clarification from the surgeon about the medication order. 2) Clamp the NG tube while administering the dose by mouth. 3) Instill the medication through the NG tube. 4) Withhold the oral potassium chloride elixir.
A patient complains of an impaired sense of smell. Which cranial nerve might have been affected?
1) Trigeminal 2) Glossopharyngeal 3) Olfactory 4) Vagus
A patient who has been on methotrexate
therapy is experiencing mild pain. The patient is asking for aspirin for the pain. The nurse recognizes that which of these is true in this situation? a. The aspirin will aggravate diarrhea. b. The aspirin will masks signs of infection. c. Aspirin can lead to methotrexate toxicity. d. The aspirin will cause no problems for the patient on methotrexate.
How much medication must be administered for the following order? Used with permission of Bayer Pharmaceuticals Corporation. Order: Cipro 500 mg
What will be an ideal response?