4b - Head Injury

17. The client is admitted to the medical floor with a diagnosis of closed head injury. Which nursing intervention has priority? 1. Assess neurological status. 2. Monitor pulse, respiration, and blood pressure. 3. Initiate an intravenous access. 4. Maintain an adequate airway.

1. Assessing the neurological status is important, but ensuring an airway is priority over assessment. 2. Monitoring vital signs is important, but maintaining an adequate airway is higher priority. 3. Initiating an IV access is an intervention the nurse can implement, but it is not the priority intervention. *4. The most important nursing goal in the management of a client with a head injury is to establish and maintain an adequate airway.*

21. The client with a closed head injury has clear fluid draining from the nose. Which action should the nurse implement *first*? 1. Notify the health-care provider immediately. 2. Prepare to administer an antihistamine. 3. Test the drainage for presence of glucose. 4. Place 2 × 2 gauze under the nose to collect drainage.

1. Prior to notifying the HCP, the nurse should always make sure that all the needed assessment information is available to discuss with the HCP. 2. With head injuries, any clear drainage may indicate a cerebrospinal fluid leak; the nurse should not assume the drainage is secondary to allergies and administer an antihistamine. *3. The presence of glucose in drainage from the nose or ears indicates cerebrospinal fluid, and the HCP should be notified immediately once this is determined.* 4. This would be appropriate, but it is not the first intervention. The nurse must determine where the fluid is coming from.

14. The resident in a long-term care facility fell during the previous shift and has a laceration in the occipital area that has been closed with Steri-Strips. Which signs/symptoms would warrant transferring the resident to the emergency department? 1. A 4-cm area of bright red drainage on the dressing. 2. A weak pulse, shallow respirations, and cool pale skin. 3. Pupils that are equal, react to light, and accommodate. 4. Complaints of a headache that resolves with medication.

1. The scalp is a very vascular area and a moderate amount of bleeding would be expected. *2. These signs/symptoms—weak pulse, shallow respirations, cool pale skin—indicate increased intracranial pressure from cerebral edema secondary to the fall, and they require immediate attention.* 3. This is a normal pupillary response and would not warrant intervention. 4. A headache that resolves with medication is not an emergency situation, and the nurse would expect the client to have a headache after the fall; a headache not relieved with Tylenol would warrant further investigation.

13. The client diagnosed with a mild concussion is being discharged from the emergency department. Which discharge instruction should the nurse teach the client's significant other? 1. Awaken the client every two (2) hours. 2. Monitor for increased intracranial pressure. 3. Observe frequently for hypervigilance. 4. Offer the client food every three (3) to four (4) hours.

*1. Awakening the client every two (2) hours allows the identification of headache, dizziness, lethargy, irritability, and anxiety—all signs of postconcussion syndrome—that would warrant the significant other's taking the client back to the emergency department.* 2. The nurse should monitor for signs of increased intracranial pressure (ICP), but a layman, the significant other, would not know what these signs and medical terms mean. 3. Hypervigilance, increased alertness and super-awareness of the surroundings, is a sign of amphetamine or cocaine abuse, but it would not be expected in a client with a head injury. 4. The client can eat food as tolerated, but feeding the client every three (3) to four (4) hours does not affect the development of postconcussion syndrome, the signs of which are what should be taught to the significant other.

19. The client diagnosed with a gunshot wound to the head assumes decorticate posturing when the nurse applies painful stimuli. Which assessment data obtained three (3) hours later would indicate the client is improving? 1. Purposeless movement in response to painful stimuli. 2. Flaccid paralysis in all four extremities. 3. Decerebrate posturing when painful stimuli are applied. 4. Pupils that are 6 mm in size and nonreactive on painful stimuli.

*1. Purposeless movement indicates that the client's cerebral edema is decreasing. The best motor response is purposeful movement, but purposeless movement indicates an improvement over decorticate movement, which, in turn, is an improvement over decerebrate movement or flaccidity.* 2. Flaccidity would indicate a worsening of the client's condition. 3. Decerebrate posturing would indicate a worsening of the client's condition. 4. The eyes respond to light, not painful stimuli, but a 6-mm nonreactive pupil indicates severe neurological deficit.

23. The client is diagnosed with a closed head injury and is in a coma. The nurse writes the client problem as "high risk for immobility complications." Which intervention would be included in the plan of care? 1. Position the client with the head of the bed elevated at intervals. 2. Perform active range-of-motion exercises every four (4) hours. 3. Turn the client every shift and massage bony prominences. 4. Explain all procedures to the client before performing them.

*1. The head of the client's bed should be elevated to help the lungs expand and prevent stasis of secretions that could lead to pneumonia, a complication of immobility.* 2. Active range-of-motion exercises require that the client participate in the activity. This is not possible because the client is in a coma. 3. The client is at risk for pressure ulcers and should be turned more frequently than every shift, and research now shows that massaging bony prominences can increase the risk for tissue breakdown. 4. The nurse should always talk to the client, even if he or she is in a coma, but this will

16. The client has sustained a severe closed head injury and the neurosurgeon is determining if the client is "brain dead." Which data support that the client is brain dead? 1. When the client's head is turned to the right, the eyes turn to the right. 2. The electroencephalogram (EEG) has identifiable waveforms. 3. There is no eye activity when the cold caloric test is performed. 4. The client assumes decorticate posturing when painful stimuli are applied.

*3. The cold caloric test, also called the oculovestibular test, is a test used to determine if the brain is intact or dead. No eye activity indicates brain death. If the client's eyes moved, that would indicate that the brainstem is intact.* 4. Decorticate posturing after painful stimuli are applied indicates that the brainstem is intact; flaccid paralysis is the worse neurological response when assessing a client with a head injury.

15. The nurse is caring for the following clients. Which client would the nurse assess first after receiving the shift report? 1. The 22-year-old male client diagnosed with a concussion who is complaining someone is waking him up every two (2) hours. 2. The 36-year-old female client admitted with complaints of left-sided weakness who is scheduled for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. 3. The 45-year-old client admitted with blunt trauma to the head after a motorcycle accident who has a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 6. 4. The 62-year-old client diagnosed with a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) who has expressive aphasia.

1. A client with a head injury must be awakened every two (2) hours to determine alertness; decreasing level of consciousness is the first indicator of increased intracranial pressure. 2. A diagnostic test, MRI, would be an expected test for a client with left-sided weakness and would not require immediate attention. *3. The Glasgow Coma Scale is used to determine a client's response to stimuli (eye-opening response, best verbal response, and best motor response) secondary to a neurological problem; scores range from 3 (deep coma) to 15 (intact neurological function). A client with a score of 6 should be assessed first by the nurse.*

22. The nurse is enjoying a day at the lake and witnesses a water skier hit the boat ramp. The water skier is in the water not responding to verbal stimuli. The nurse is the first health-care provider to respond to the accident. Which intervention should be implemented first? 1. Assess the client's level of consciousness. 2. Organize onlookers to remove the client from the lake. 3. Perform a head-to-toe assessment to determine injuries. 4. Stabilize the client's cervical spine.

1. Assessment is important, but with clients with head injury the nurse must assume spinal cord injury until it is ruled out with x-ray; therefore, stabilizing the spinal cord is priority. 2. Removing the client from the water is an appropriate intervention, but the nurse must assume spinal cord injury until it is ruled out with x-ray; therefore, stabilizing the spinal cord is priority. 3. Assessing the client for further injury is appropriate, but the first intervention is to stabilize the spine because the impact was strong enough to render the client unconsciousness. *4. The nurse should always assume that a client with traumatic head injury may have sustained spinal cord injury. Moving the client could further injure the spinal cord and cause paralysis; therefore, the nurse should stabilize the cervical spinal cord as best as possible prior to removing the client from the water.*

18. The client diagnosed with a closed head injury is admitted to the rehabilitation department. Which medication order would the nurse question? 1. A subcutaneous anticoagulant. 2. An intravenous osmotic diuretic. 3. An oral anticonvulsant. 4. An oral proton pump inhibitor.

1. The client in rehabilitation is at risk for the development of deep vein thrombosis; therefore, this is an appropriate medication. *2. An osmotic diuretic would be ordered in the acute phase to help decrease cerebral edema, but this medication would not be expected to be ordered in a rehabilitation unit.* 3. Clients with head injuries are at risk for post-traumatic seizures; thus an oral anticonvulsant would be administered for seizure prophylaxis. 4. The client is at risk for a stress ulcer; therefore, an oral proton pump inhibitor would be an appropriate medication.

24. The 29-year-old client who was employed as a forklift operator sustains a traumatic brain injury secondary to a motor-vehicle accident. The client is being discharged from the rehabilitation unit after three (3) months and has cognitive deficits. Which goal would be most realistic for this client? 1. The client will return to work within six (6) months. 2. The client is able to focus and stay on task for 10 minutes. 3. The client will be able to dress self without assistance. 4. The client will regain bowel and bladder control.

1. The client is at risk for seizures and does not process information appropriately. Allowing him to return to his occupation as a forklift operator is a safety risk for him and other employees. Vocational training may be required. *2. "Cognitive" pertains to mental processes of comprehension, judgment, memory, and reasoning. Therefore, an appropriate goal would be for the client to stay on task for 10 minutes.* 3. The client's ability to dress self addresses self-care problems, not a cognitive problem. 4. The client's ability to regain bowel and bladder control does not address cognitive deficits.

20. The nurse is caring for a client diagnosed with an epidural hematoma. Which nursing interventions should the nurse implement? *Select all that apply.* 1. Maintain the head of the bed at 60 degrees of elevation. 2. Administer stool softeners daily. 3. Ensure that pulse oximeter reading is higher than 93%. 4. Perform deep nasal suction every two (2) hours. 5. Administer mild sedatives.

1. The head of the bed should be elevated no more than 30 degrees to help decrease cerebral edema by gravity. *2. Stool softeners are initiated to prevent the Valsalva maneuver, which increases intracranial pressure.* *3. Oxygen saturation higher than 93% ensures oxygenation of the brain tissues; decreasing oxygen levels increase cerebral edema.* 4. Noxious stimuli, such as suctioning, increase intracranial pressure and should be avoided. *5. Mild sedatives will reduce the client's agitation; strong narcotics would not be administered because they decrease the client's level of consciousness.*