assessment of respiratory function chapter 17

You are caring for a client admitted with chronic bronchitis. The client is having difficulty breathing, and the family asks you what causes this difficulty. What would be your best response?

"Conditions such as chronic bronchitis cause thickening of the bronchial mucosa so it makes it harder to breathe."

A nurse is instructing the client on the normal sensations that can occur when contrast medium is infused during pulmonary angiography. Which client statement demonstrates an understanding of the teaching?

"I will feel warm and may have chest pain"

Normally, approximately what percentage of the blood pumped by the right ventricle does not perfuse the alveolar capillaries?

2%

The nurse is caring for a client who is in respiratory distress. The physician orders arterial blood gases (ABGs) to determine various factors related to blood oxygenation. What site can ABGs be obtained from?

A puncture at the radial artery

Which is a true statement regarding air pressure variances?

Air is drawn through the trachea and bronchi into the alveoli during inspiration.

A nurse is caring for an older adult with pneumonia. What are age-related structural and functional changes that occur in the respiratory system?

Decreased elasticity of the alveolar sacs Increased residual volume Increased diameter of alveolar ducts Increased thickness of alveolar sacs

A nurse is preparing a client for bronchoscopy. Which instruction should the nurse give to the client?

Do not eat or drink for 6 hours before the procedure.

High or increased compliance occurs in which disease process?

Emphysema

Which of the following is an age-related change associated with the lung?

Increased thickness of the alveolar membranes

The nurse is in the radiology unit of the hospital. The nurse is caring for a client who is scheduled for a lung scan. The nurse knows that lung scans need the use of radioisotopes and a scanning machine. Before the perfusion scan, what must the client be assessed for?

Iodine allergy

A patient diagnosed with diabetic ketoacidosis would be expected to have which type of respiratory pattern?

Kussmaul respirations

A client has just undergone bronchoscopy. Which nursing assessment is most important at this time?

Level of consciousness

A client has a nursing diagnosis of "ineffective airway clearance" as a result of excessive secretions. An appropriate outcome for this client would be which of the following?

Lungs are clear on auscultation.

A physician has ordered that a client with suspected lung cancer undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The nurse explains the benefits of this study to the client. What is the reason the client with suspected lung cancer would undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)?

MRI can view soft tissues and can help stage cancers.

What is the primary function of the larynx?

Producing sound

A client with chronic bronchitis is admitted to the health facility. Auscultation of the lungs reveals low-pitched, rumbling sounds. Which term should the nurse document?

Rhonchi

The nurse is caring for a client who is to undergo a thoracentesis. In preparation for the procedure, the nurse places the client in which position?

Sitting on the edge of the bed

A nurse is assessing a client's respiratory system. Which alveolar cells secrete surfactant to reduce lung surface tension?

Type II

Pink, frothy sputum may be an indication of

pulmonary edema

The nurse is admitting a client who just had a bronchoscopy. Which assessment should be the nurse's priority?

Swallow reflex

The nurse is assessing a patient in respiratory failure. What finding is a late indicator of hypoxia?

cyanosis

A client arrives at the physician's office stating dyspnea; a productive cough for thick, green sputum; respirations of 28 breaths/minute, and a temperature of 102.8° F. The nurse auscultates the lung fields, which reveal poor air exchange in the right middle lobe. The nurse suspects a right middle lobe pneumonia. To be consistent with this anticipated diagnosis, which sound, heard over the chest wall when percussing, is anticipated?

dull

A client with sinus congestion complains of discomfort when the nurse is palpating the supraorbital ridges. What sinus is the client referring?

frontal

Bradypnea is associated with which condition?

increased intracranial pressure

A client experiences a head injury in a motor vehicle accident. The client's level of consciousness is declining, and respirations have become slow and shallow. When monitoring a client's respiratory status, which area of the brain would the nurse realize is responsible for the rate and depth?

the pons

The amount of air inspired and expired with each breath is called:

tidal volume.

The nurse is caring for a client with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and expects which ventilation-perfusion ratio to be exhibited?

Both shunting and dead-space ventilation

Which term will the nurse use to document the inability of a client to breathe easily unless positioned upright?

Orthopnea

The instructor of the pre-nursing physiology class is explaining respiration to the class. What does the instructor explain is the main function of respiration?

To exchange oxygen and CO2 between the atmospheric air and the blood and between the blood and the cells

A nurse is discussing squamous epithelial cells lining each alveolus, which consist of different types of cells. Which type of alveolar cells produce surfactant?

Type II cells

A patient visited a health care clinic for treatment of upper respiratory tract congestion, fatigue, and sputum production that was rust-colored. Which of the following diagnoses is likely based on this history and inspection of the sputum?

An infection with pneumococcal pneumonia

The nurse is caring for a client diagnosed with pneumonia. The nurse assesses the client for tactile fremitus by completing which action?

Asking the client to repeat "ninety-nine" as the nurse's hands move down the client's thorax

You are studying for a physiology test about the respiratory system. What should you know about central chemoreceptors in the medulla?

They respond to changes in CO2 levels and hydrogen ion concentrations (pH) in the cerebrospinal fluid.

What is the difference between respiration and ventilation?

Ventilation is the movement of air in and out of the respiratory tract.

The nurse enters the room of a client who is being monitored with pulse oximetry. Which of the following factors may alter the oximetry results?

Diagnosis of peripheral vascular disease

For air to enter the lungs (process of ventilation), the intrapulmonary pressure must be less than atmospheric pressure so air can be pulled inward. Select the movement of respiratory muscles that makes this happen during inspiration.

Diaphragm contracts and elongates the chest cavity.

The nurse reviews the results of a client's ventilation-perfusion (V/Q) scan. For which condition will the nurse plan care when the ventilation-perfusion ratio is less than 0.80?

Pneumonia