Respiration: Rate, Rhythm, and Effort Quiz

When measuring a patient's respiratory rate, the nurse will count the number of completed respiratory cycles per minute. What is the definition of a respiratory cycle? A. The number of inspirations and expirations per minute. B. The number of expirations per minute. C. The number of sighs per minute. D. The number of inspirations per minute.

A. The number of inspirations and expirations per minute.

Which action can the nurse take to keep a patient from consciously controlling his or her breathing during an assessment? A. Take the patient's temperature while counting the respiratory rate. B. Assess respiration after measuring the pulse. C. Assess respiration after taking the blood pressure. D. Assess respiration before measuring the blood pressure.

B. Assess respiration after measuring the pulse.

4. The nurse plans to assess a patient's respiratory rate; however, the patient has just returned from ambulating to the bathroom. What should the nurse do to minimize the effect of exercise on the patient's respiratory rate? A. Assess the pulse for a full 60 seconds before assessing respiration. B. Compare the postexercise respiratory rate with his baseline findings. C. Encourage the patient to rest for 10 minutes before assessing respiration. D. Compare the postexercise findings with the previous at-rest findings.

C. Encourage the patient to rest for 10 minutes before assessing respiration.

3. During the assessment of a patient's respiratory rate, when the second hand reaches the 15-second mark, the respiratory count is 8. What should the nurse do at this time? A. Stop the assessment. B. Stop the assessment, and multiply the number 8 by 2. C. Stop the assessment, and multiply the number 8 by 6. D. Continue to count the patient's breaths for a full 60 seconds.

D. Continue to count the patient's breaths for a full 60 seconds.

On the last assessment of a patient's respiration, her respiratory rate was 10 breaths per minute. What should the nurse do when conducting the next assessment of this patient's respiratory rate? A. Count breaths for 10 seconds and multiply by 6. B. Count breaths for 15 seconds and multiply by 4 C. Count breaths for 30 seconds and multiply by 2. D. Count breaths for 60 seconds.

D. Count breaths for 60 seconds.