Chapter 20: Assessment of Respiratory Function

A patient comes to the emergency department complaining of a knifelike pain when taking a deep breath. What does this type of pain likely indicate to the nurse?

Pleurisy

While conducting the physical examination during assessment of the respiratory system, which conditions does the nurse assess by inspecting and palpating the trachea?

Deviation from the midline

Upon palpation of the sinus area, what would the nurse identify as a normal finding?

No tenderness during palpation

A nurse practitioner diagnosed a patient with an infection in the maxillary sinuses. Select the area that the nurse palpated to make that diagnosis.

On the cheeks below the eyes

The client is returning from the operating room following a bronchoscopy. Which action, performed by the nursing assistant, would the nurse stop if began prior to nursing assessment?

The nursing assistant is pouring a glass of water to wet the client's mouth.

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 term for the volume of air inhaled and exhaled with each breath is

tidal volume.

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

type II