A new registered nurse working for a busy unit of an acute care teaching hospital begins her shift with four patients. She needs to prioritize care. Which of the following patients should she attend to first?
A. Patient who needs assistance in ambulating the hall
B. Patient whose blood pressure suddenly drops and who passes out
C. Recovering surgical patient whose family has just arrived
D. Patient who was just diagnosed with cancer and is alone
B
When a nurse provides care for several patients at one time, he or she will need to use decision-making criteria. These criteria include the clinical conditions of the patients, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, risks involved in treatment delays, and the patients' expectations of care to determine what patients have the greatest priorities for care.
You might also like to view...
A patient with a diagnosis of thyroid cancer is postoperative day 1 following a total thyroidectomy in which her parathyroid gland was also removed. When assessing for related electrolyte imbalances, what question should the nurse ask the patient?
A) "Do you feel like you're having heart palpitations where your heart feels like it skips a beat?" B) "How thirsty are you feeling right now?" C) "Are you feeling any tingling in your hands or around your mouth?" D) "How would you rate your energy level right now?"
During which stage of cognitive development is the child very literal in the understanding of words?
a. Sensorimotor stage b. Preoperational stage c. Concrete operations stage d. Formal operations stage
The nurse is caring for patient who presented to an ambulatory care clinic with a large amount of sand in his eyes following an all-terrain vehicle accident
After the nurse completes eye irrigation, the patient reports that his eyes still hurt and feel irritated. What action is most appropriate? a. Instruct the patient that these feelings are normal after an eye irrigation. b. Instruct the patient that the prescribed ointment will help to soothe the eye irrita-tion. c. Repeat the eye irrigation with a solution of 50% sterile water and normal saline. d. Notify the physician.
The nurse must notify the physician of the need to suspend treatment for a client receiving clozapine (Clozaril) when the weekly WBC monitoring shows:
1. WBCs below 2000/mm3 and absolute neutrophils below 1000/mm3 2. WBCs below 2500/mm3 and absolute neutrophils below 1500/mm3 3. WBCs below 3000/mm3 and absolute neutrophils below 2000/mm3 4. WBCs below 3500/mm3 and absolute neutrophils below 2500/mm3