A client is admitted owing to difficulty breathing. The nurse assesses the client's color, lung sounds, and pulse oximetry reading. The pulse oximetry is 90%. What is the nurse's next action?
a. Give an intermittent positive-pressure breathing treatment.
b. Administer a rescue inhaler.
c. Call for a chest x-ray.
d. Assess an arterial blood gas.
D
When clients with respiratory problems are assessed, an arterial blood gas is needed for the most accurate assessment of oxygenation. No indications are known for a breathing treatment or an inhaler, nor does the nurse have enough information to know whether a chest x-ray is warranted.
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1. Thoracic spinal cord damage from an automobile accident 2. A recent trip to South America 3. Recent recovery from a cold virus 4. Use of ibuprophen for the control of pain
What feature of a newborn shunts blood from the right atrium directly into the left atrium, bypassing the lungs?
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A patient is being treated for acquired hemolytic anemia. Which assessment finding suggests that the health problem is severe?
A. Bradycardia B. Misshapen limbs due to pathological fractures C. Enlarged spleen D. Jaundice