Clin Path Chapter 10

A baseball player was hit in the head with a bat during practice. In the emergency department, the physician tells the family that he has a "coup" injury. How will the nurse explain this to the family so they can understand?

"Your son has a contusion of the brain at the site where the bat hit his head."

A 26 year-old female is resting after a 1-minute episode during which she lost consciousness while her muscles contracted and extremities extended. This was followed by rhythmic contraction and relaxation of her extremities. On regaining consciousness, she found herself to have been incontinent of urine. What has the woman most likely experienced?

A tonic-clonic seizure

A child with a history of a seizure disorder has been observed suddenly and repetitively patting his knee. The child has a brief loss of contact with the environment and then is ready to resume normal activity. What type of seizure did this client most likely experience?

Absence seizure

A client with a spinal cord injury at T8 would likely retain normal motor and somatosensory function of her:

Arms

Which cardinal assessment finding would lead the nurse to suspect a client has developed Parkinson disease?

Bradykinesia

Which intracranial volume is most capable of compensating for increasing intracranial pressure?

Cerebrospinal fluid

Select the function of the occipital lobe.

Color, motion, and depth perception

The health care provider is concerned that a client may be at risk for problems with cerebral blood flow. The most important data to assess would be:

Decreased level of oxygen

A client's recent diagnosis of Parkinson disease has prompted the care provider to promptly begin pharmacologic therapy. The drugs prescribed will likely influence the client's levels of which substance?

Dopamine

The underlying causative problem in Parkinsonism is:

Failure of dopamine release

Nutrition students are studying the nervous system, which has a high rate of metabolism. What is its major fuel source?

Glucose

A client has sustained damage to cranial nerve VIII. The nurse recognizes that the client may experience difficulty with:

Hearing

A client arrives in the clinic after having a tongue piercing performed and is unable to control the movement of the tongue. The nurse is aware that which nerve may have been damaged from the piercing?

Hypoglossal

The health care provider is performing a spinal tap on a client with suspected infection. The provider would perform the procedure at:

L3 or L4

The region of the brain involved in emotional experience and control of emotional behavior is the:

Limbic system

A 60-year-old woman has been recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease in which the oligodendrocytes of the client's central nervous system (CNS) are progressively destroyed. Which physiologic process within the neurologic system is most likely to be affected by this disease process?

Nerve conduction

During embryonic development, which structure develops into the central nervous system (CNS)?

Neural tube

A client diagnosed with Parkinson disease is displaying the following manifestations: tremor, rigidity, and slowness of movement. The nurse would interpret these as:

Normal manifestations of Parkinson disease

Disorders of the pyramidal tracts, such as a stroke, are characterized by which physical finding?

Paralysis

After being thrown off the back of a bull, a bull rider can move his arms but has loss of motor function in the lumbar and sacral segments of the spinal cord. This is referred to as:

Paraplegia

The basis for assessing the function of any peripheral nerve lies in which principle?

Peripheral nerves contain processes of more than one of the four afferent and three efferent cell columns.

A client's recent computed tomography (CT) scan has revealed the presence of hydrocephalus. Which treatment measure is most likely to resolve this health problem?

Placement of a shunt

A client with a diagnosis of myasthenia gravis underwent a mastectomy. The surgery was a success, but the client has gone into a myasthenic crisis on postoperative day 1. Which priority measure should the care team initiate immediately?

Respiratory support and protection of the client's airway

Which types of cells are supporting cells of the peripheral nervous system?

Schwann cells

Through what specific component do neurotransmitters exert their action?

Specific proteins

The vertebral column provides protection of which parts of the body? Select all that apply.

Spinal cord Spinal nerves Supporting structures

Which structures are protected by the vertebral column?

Spinal cord, spinal nerves, and their supporting structures

During a clinical assessment of a 68-year-old client who has suffered a head injury, a neurologist suspects that a client has a sustained damage to her vagus nerve (CN X). Which assessment finding is most likely to lead the physician to this conclusion?

The client has difficulty swallowing and has had recent constipation and hypoactive bowel sounds.

A client comes to the clinic and informs the nurse that he believes he is suffering from Parkinson disease. What objective data assessed by the nurse would correlate with the client's concern? Select all that apply.

Tremor Rigidity Bradykinesia

Which of these project from the motor strip in the cerebral cortex to the ventral horn and are fully contained within the CNS?

Upper motor neurons

Autonomic dysreflexia (autonomic hyperreflexia) is characterized by which of the following?

Vasospasms and hypertension

College students were given various amounts of alcohol within a specified time frame and then asked to drive an obstacle course. The rationale for poor performance in driving as the amount of alcohol intake increased includes, "The blood-brain barrier:

allows alcohol, a very lipid-soluble molecule, to rapidly enter the brain.

The nurse is aware that the primary function of the sympathetic nervous system is:

maintenance of vital functions and responding when there is a critical threat to the integrity of the individual.

A client has been brought to the emergency department following an overdose of insulin that resulted in unconsciousness. When explaining the rationale for this to the family, the nurse will emphasize that neurons:

must rely on glucose from the blood to meet their energy needs

The nurse has just completed an assessment on a client admitted with Guillain-Barré syndrome. The nurse determines that a priority of care will be:

ventilatory assessment and support.