Nursing Exam 6- Oxygenation

A patient is presenting with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The patient has a chronic productive cough with dyspnea on excretion. Arterial blood gases show a low oxygen level and high carbon dioxide level in the blood. On assessment, the patient has cyanosis in the lips and edema in the abdomen and legs. Based on your nursing knowledge and the patient's symptoms, you suspect the patient suffers from what type of COPD? A. Emphysema B. Pneumonia C. Chronic bronchitis D. Pneumothorax - C. Chronic bronchitis ***The answer is C. The key words to let you know the patient is experiencing chronic bronchitis are: cyanosis and edema in the abdomen and legs. Remember chronic bronchitis is sometimes referred to as "blue bloaters". A patient with emphysema may present with all of the following symptoms EXCEPT? A. Barrel chest B. Hyperinflation of the lungs C. Hypoventilation D. Hypercapnia - C. Hypoventilation ***The answer is C. Patients with emphysema present with HYPERventilation. The body will try to compensate for the low oxygen blood levels and will cause the patient to hyperventilate. Remember emphysema patients are sometimes called "pink puffers". They will have a barrel chest (due to the use of accessory musclesfor breathing), hyperinflation of the lungs (due to damage of the alveoli sacs and creation of air sacs), and hypercapnia (high carbon dioxide levels). The term" blue bloaters" is used to describe patients with? A. Pulmonary hypertension B. Left-sided heart failure C. Chronic Bronchitis D. Emphysema - C. Chronic Bronchitis ***The answer is C. "Blue bloaters" is used to describe patients with chronic bronchitis, and the term "pink puffers" is used to describe patients with emphysema. A patient is newly diagnosed with COPD due to chronic bronchitis. You're providing education to the patient about this disease process. Which statement by the patient indicates they understood your teaching about this condition? A. "If I stop smoking, it will cure my condition." B. "Complications from this condition can lead to pulmonary hypertension and right-sided heart failure." C. "I'm at risk for low levels of red blood cells due to hypoxia and may require blood transfusions during acute illnesses." D. "My respiratory system is stimulated to breathe due to high carbon dioxide levels rather than low oxygen levels. - B. Complications from this condition can lead to pulmonary HTN and right sided HF An alarm beeps notifying you that one of your patient's oxygen saturation is reading 89%. You arrive to the patient's room, and see the patient comfortably resting in bed watching television. The patient is already on 2 L of oxygen via nasal cannula. The patient is admitted for COPD exacerbation. Your next nursing action would be:A. Continue to monitor the patient B. Increase the patient's oxygen level to 3 L C. Notify the doctor for further orders D. Turn off the alarm settings - A. Continue to monitor the patient You are providing teaching to a patient with chronic COPD on how to perform diaphragmatic breathing. This technique helps do the following: A. Increase the breathing rate to prevent hypoxemia B. Decrease the use of the abdominal muscles C. Encourages the use of accessory muscles to help with breathing D. Strengthen the diaphragm - D. Strengthen the diaphragm Diaphragmatic breathing helps strengthen the diaphragm because it has become flatten due to the hyperinflation of the lungs. Due to the flattening of the diaphragm, the body is unable to breathe with ease and must use the accessory muscles to compensate. Therefore, diaphragmatic breathing helps DECREASE the breathing rate to prevent hypoxemia, INCREASES the use of the abdominal muscles RATHER than accessory muscles and strengthens the diaphragm. A patient with severe COPD is having an episode of extreme shortness of breath and requests their inhaler. Which type of inhaler ordered by the physician would provide the FASTEST relief for the patient based on this particular situation? A. Spiriva B. Salmeterol C. Symbicort D. Albuterol - D. AlbuterolThe answer is D. The patient would best benefit from a SHORT-ACTING bronchodilator to help with the shortness of breath. The only short-acting bronchodilator listed is Albuterol. Spiriva is a long-acting bronchodilator. Symbicort is a combination of long-acting bronchodilator and corticosteroid. Salmeterol is a long-acting bronchodilator. Which of the following statements are incorrect about discharge teaching that you would provide to a patient with COPD? Select-all-that-apply: A. "It is best to eat three large meals a day that are relatively low in calories." B. "Avoid going outside during extremely hot or cold days." C. "It is important to receive the Pneumovax vaccine annually." D. "Smoking cessation can help improve your symptoms." - The answers are A and C. The patient needs to eat high calorie and protein rich meals that are small but frequent. The Pneumovax is definitely recommended for patients with COPD but is given every 5 years (not annually). A patient is ordered by the physician to take Pulmicort and Spiriva via inhaler. How should the patient take this medication? A. The patient should use the medications every 2 hours for acute episodes of shortness of breath. B. The patient should use the Spiriva first and then 5 minutes later the Pulmicort. C. The patient should use the Pulmicort first and then the Spiriva 5 minutes later. D. The patient should use the medications at the same exact time, regardless of the order. - The answer is B. The patient should use the bronchodilator first which is the Spiriva to open the airways and THEN the Pulmicort which is a corticosteroid. Using the inhalers in this order will allow the corticosteroid to work properly after the lung fields are opened due to bronchodilation.In regards to previous question, which action by the patient demonstrates they know how to properly use this medication? A. The patient rinses their mouth after using the Spiriva inhaler. B. The patient rinses their mouth after using the Pulmicort inhaler. C. The patient dispenses of the inhalers. D. The patient coughs 2 times after using the Pulmicort inhaler. - The answer is B. The patient should rinse the mouth after using any type of corticosteroid inhalers (here Pulmicort is the corticosteroid not Sprivia) to remove the medication from the mouth. If left in the mouth, the patient can develop thrush.