ATI The Respiratory Failure and Management| Questions and Answers| Final Review 2025| Approved Exam

ATI The Respiratory Failure and Management| Questions and Answers| Final Review 2025| Approved Exam A patient with severe COPD is drowsy and confused. What’s likely going on? High CO₂ levels can cause confusion and drowsiness—it’s CO₂ narcosis. Needs ventilatory support, maybe BiPAP. Why do we keep head of bed elevated in respiratory failure patients? Helps lung expansion and makes it easier to breathe. Also lowers risk of aspiration, especially if they vomit or are weak. A patient with sepsis is now showing rapid breathing and low O₂ despite oxygen. What complication might be developing? Could be ARDS. Inflammatory damage to the lungs messes up gas exchange. Needs aggressive support, maybe intubation. A nurse gives albuterol to a patient with wheezing. What should they watch for after? Check for improved breath sounds, lower RR, better sats. Also watch for side effects like tremors or tachycardia. Patient on oxygen via nasal cannula complains of nasal dryness and sore nostrils. What can be done to fix this? Use humidified oxygen and maybe switch to a different delivery method. Lube can help too. High-flow dry air can irritate the mucosa. 2 You’re caring for a patient with neuromuscular disease. What makes them high-risk for respiratory failure? Their muscles can’t move air in and out well. That means they struggle to ventilate or clear secretions, which leads to CO₂ buildup and infections. A patient has anxiety and is hyperventilating. What ABG change do you expect? Low CO₂ and maybe a high pH—respiratory alkalosis. They’re blowing off too much CO₂ from over-breathing. Why is SpO₂ alone not always reliable in respiratory failure? It doesn’t show CO₂ levels. A patient can have good sats but be retaining CO₂. Always check ABGs if they seem off. You see a patient breathing 36/min, anxious, and pale. Their SpO₂ is 94%. Why should you still be concerned? High RR and distress suggest they’re compensating—but they can crash fast. SpO₂ might look okay now but doesn't tell the whole story. A nurse puts a COPD patient on 15L non-rebreather. They get more drowsy. What went wrong? 3 That’s too much O₂. They probably lost their hypoxic drive and started retaining CO₂. Always titrate oxygen in COPD carefully. A nurse walks into a patient’s room and sees them using accessory muscles and struggling to speak. Their RR is 32/min and SpO₂ is 86% on room air. Explain what these signs suggest and what should be done next. That’s acute respiratory failure kicking in. The patient is in distress and needs oxygen