Chapter 17: Implementing

A nurse suspects that the client with Crohn's disease does not understand the medication regimen or diet modifications required to manage the illness. What is the nurse's most appropriate action?

Ask the client to verbalize the medication regimen and diet modifications required.

Which nursing action can be categorized as a surveillance or monitoring intervention?

Auscultating of bilateral lung sounds

The primary purpose of nursing implementation is to:

help the client achieve optimal levels of health.

The nurse is caring for a client with congestive heart failure. The nurse manager informs the nurse that the client was enrolled in a clinical trial to assess whether a 10-minute walk, 3 times per day, leads to expedited discharge. Which type of evaluation best describes what the researchers are examining?

outcome

The surgeon is insisting that a client consent to a hysterectomy. The client refuses to make a decision without the consent of the client's spouse. What is the nurse's best course of action?

Ask the surgeon to wait until the client has had a chance to talk to the spouse

Which parties are essential for the nurse to include in the implementation of a client's plan of care?

Client, family, and physician

After instituting interventions to increase oxygenation, the client shows no signs of improvement. What is the nurse's priority action?

Communicate with the physician for additional orders.

The nurse is caring for a client who is recovering from a cerebrovascular accident. When reviewing the client's orders, the nurse notes that one of the physicians wrote orders to ambulate the client, whereas another physician ordered strict bed rest for the client. How would the nurse most appropriately remedy this conflict?

Communicate with the physicians to coordinate their orders.

A client tells the nurse, "My doctor has told me I have to have a blood transfusion, but I am a Jehovah's Witness and I can't take one." What is the nurse's most appropriate intervention?

Discuss possible alternatives to a blood transfusion with the physician.

The nurse is preparing a client for surgery when the client tells the nurse that the client no longer wants to have the surgery. How should the nurse most appropriately respond?

Discuss with the client the reasons for declining surgery.

Which action is a nursing intervention that facilitates lifespan care?

Educate family members about normal growth and development patterns.

The nurse in a burn intensive care unit (BICU) is caring for a 3-year-old child who was burned with scalding hot water. The client has burns covering 75% of the body. The client's condition is critical but stable. At 1000, the nurse reassesses the client and finds that the client is agitated and pulling at the endotracheal tube. Which is the nurse's priority intervention for this client at this time?

Ensuring that the endotracheal tube is secure

Priority setting is based on the information obtained during reassessment and is used to rank nursing diagnoses. Each factor contributes to priority setting except which?

Finances of the client

The emergency room nurse is performing an initial assessment of a new client who presents with severe dizziness. The client reports a medical history of hypertension, gout, and migraine headaches. Which step should the nurse take first in the comprehensive assessment?

Perform vital signs and blood glucose level.

An indwelling urinary catheter has been ordered for a client experiencing urinary retention after surgery. When the nurse enters the room to place the catheter, the client reports voiding in the bathroom. Which is the nurse's most appropriate action?

Reassess whether the client still needs the urinary catheter.

The nurse has assessed a client and determined that the client has abnormal breath sounds and low oxygen saturation level. The nurse is performing what type of nursing intervention?

Surveillance

Which actions are examples of nursing actions listed in the ANA's Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice for Standard 5: Implementation? Select all that apply.

The nurse documents implementation and any modifications, including changes or omissions, of the identified plan. The nurse utilizes community resources and systems to implement the plan. The nurse utilizes evidence-based interventions and treatments specific to the diagnosis or problem.

The nurse has prepared to educate a client about caring for a new colostomy. When the nurse begins the instruction, the client states, "I am not ready to deal with this now. I am feeling overwhelmed." What is the nurse's most appropriate action?

Discontinue the education and attempt at another time.

The nurse has instructed the client in self-catheterization, but the client is unable to perform a return demonstration. What is the nurse's most appropriate plan of action?

Reassess the appropriateness of the method of instruction.

While auscultating a client's lung sounds, the nurse notes crackles in the left lower lobe, which were not present at the start of the shift. The nurse is engaged in which type of nursing intervention?

Surveillance

The registered nurse is working with an unlicensed assistive personnel. Which client should the nurse not delegate to the unlicensed assistive personnel?

The client with continuous pulse oximetry who requires pharyngeal suctioning.

The Joint Commission (TJC) encourages clients to become active, involved, and informed participants on the health care team. What nursing action follows TJC recommendations for improving client safety by encouraging them to speak up?

The nurse encourages the client to participate in all treatment decisions as the center of the health care team.

A nurse is providing care to several assigned clients and decides to delegate the task of morning vital signs to unlicensed assistive personnel. The nurse would assume responsibility and refrain from delegating this task for which client?

A client with a high fever receiving intravenous fluids, antibiotics, and oxygen

An 87-year-old client has been admitted to the hospital several times in the past few months for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and elevated blood glucose levels. Which statement by the client could help identify the most likely reason for the changes in the client's health status?

My wife's been gone for about 7 months now

The registered nurse (RN) is delegating the task of assisting a postoperative client to the bathroom to the unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP). The nurse witnessed the UAP correctly perform the task on previous occasions and knows the UAP is competent to perform the task. The nurse has communicated how to get the client out and back into bed and told the UAP not to allow the client to bear weight on the left leg. The nurse validated that the activity was completed and gave the UAP feedback. Which delegation guideline did the nurse omit?

Right circumstance

Which roles are a responsibility of the nurse in the nurse-health care team relationship? Select all that apply.

Serve as a liaison between the client and family and the health care team. Coordinate the inputs of the multidisciplinary team into a comprehensive plan of care.

Discharge plans for a client with a mental health disorder include living with family members. The nurse learns that the family is no longer willing to allow the client to live with them. What is the nurse's most appropriate action?

Collaborate with other disciplines to revise the discharge plans.

A client on the medical-surgical unit is scheduled for several diagnostic tests. The nurse is concerned that the tests will be too tiring for the client. What would be the nurse's most appropriate action?

Coordinate with the other disciplines to schedule the tests with adequate rest for the client.

During morning report, the night nurse tells the oncoming nurse that the client has been medicated for pain and is resting comfortably. Thirty minutes later, the client calls and requests pain medication. What is the nurse's appropriate firstaction?

Go to the client and assess the client's pain.

Which is an independent (nurse-initiated) action?

Helping to allay a client's fears about surgery

A client is diagnosed with hypertension, placed on a low-sodium diet, and given smoking cessation literature. The nurse observes the client eating from a fast food restaurant bag that a family member brought in and the client states, "I don't think I can do this." What is the nurse's first objective when implementing care for this client?

Identify what barriers the client feels are preventing adherence with the plan.

When the nurse enters the room to assess a client's vital signs, the client insists that the nurse perform handwashing. What is the nurse's most appropriate action?

Praise the client for taking an active role in the client's care.

Which action is a responsibility of the nurse in the nurse-nurse team relationship?

Provide creative leadership to make the nursing unit a challenging place to work.

Which task would be appropriate for the nurse to delegate to an unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP)?

Provide the client with assistance in transferring to the bedside commode.

A client with hypertension being seen for follow-up care has a blood pressure of 160/100 mm Hg. The client reports following the treatment regimen closely and that blood pressure readings have been elevated for the last 2 weeks. What is the nurse's most appropriate action?

Report the findings to the physician for further plans.

What assessment data would indicate to the nurse at the conclusion of an education session that the client education was effective? Select all that apply.

The client verbalizes understanding of the instructions. The client is able to answer the nurse's questions. The client discusses the specifics of what was taught during the session. Explanation:

The client is having difficulty breathing. The respiratory rate is 44 and the oxygen saturation is 89% (0.89 L). The nurse raises the head of the bed and applies oxygen at 3 L/min per nasal cannula. How does the nurse determine the effectiveness of the interventions? Select all that apply.

The client's respiratory rate decreases. The client states, "I can breathe easier now." The client's oxygen saturation level increases.

A nurse who is experienced caring only for well babies is assigned to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) because of a shortage of nurses in the NICU. The nurse is assigned to an infant on a ventilator who will require blood transfusions during the shift. What is the nurse's most appropriate course of action?

The nurse should inform the charge nurse that the nurse does not have the experience to properly care for this client.

A nurse is performing a sterile dressing change on a client's abdominal incision. While establishing the sterile field, the nurse drops the forceps on the floor. The nurse is unable to continue with the dressing change because there are no extra supplies in the room, and no one is present to bring new forceps. The nurse failed to organize:

equipment and personnel.

The nurse is discussing diabetes mellitus with the family members of a client recently diagnosed. To promote the health of the family members, what would be the most important information for the nurse to include?

risk factors for and prevention of diabetes mellitus