A patient being mechanically ventilated requires increasing PEEP for worsening ARDS. The order for PEEP is now at 20 cm of H2O. The nurse will need to contact the physician immediately if the patient develops which finding?
1. lung sounds greater on one side than the other
2. lung sounds with crackles
3. diminished peripheral pulses
4. high-pressure alarm
Correct Answer: 1
A potential complication from increasing PEEP is a pneumothorax. The nurse needs to be alert to diminishing or absent lung sounds on one side of the chest. Crackles and diminished peripheral pulses would not be related to a pneumothorax. A low-pressure alarm would be more likely to sound if the patient developed a pneumothorax.
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