The patient has just returned to the postsurgical unit after undergoing surgery to remove a lung tumor. During one of the postoperative vital sign checks, the nurse notes that the patient's sys-tolic blood pressure had dropped by 30 points
In addition to the drop in systolic blood pressure, the patient's skin is pale and "clammy." The nurse should do which of the following? a. Report the findings to the health care pro-vider immediately.
b. Understand that the patient's arteries are constricting, causing pallor.
c. Wait to see if the blood pressure increases in 30 minutes.
d. Nothing; this is a normal occurrence fol-lowing a thoracic surgery.
A
Signs and symptoms associated with hypotension include pallor, skin mottling, clamminess, confusion, dizziness, chest pain, increased heart rate, and decreased urine output. Hypotension is usually life threatening and needs to be reported immediately to the patient's health care provider. Doing nothing can lead to the patient's death. Hypotension occurs when arteries dilate; the peri-pheral vascular resistance decreases, the circulating blood volume decreases, or the heart fails to provide adequate cardiac output.
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