The nurse is triaging several patients in an urgent care center. One patient states that he has hemophilia and is bleeding, with no apparent signs of bleeding. Which priority action by the nurse is most appropriate at this time?
Have the patient take a number and stay in the waiting area.
Place the patient in an examination room immediately and notify the physician of a potential bleeding crisis.
Send the patient for routine x-rays to locate the source of bleeding and place him in an examination room.
Palpate the suspected area of bleeding for tenderness and edema.
The Correct Answer is B
A. Have the patient take a number and stay in the waiting area. Delaying care could lead to worsening of a potentially life-threatening bleeding episode. Hemophilia patients should be assessed promptly.
B. Place the patient in an examination room immediately and notify the physician of a potential bleeding crisis. Hemophilia patients are at risk of internal bleeding, which may not always be visible externally. Rapid assessment is essential to prevent complications from internal bleeding.
C. Send the patient for routine x-rays to locate the source of bleeding and place him in an examination room. X-rays may not immediately detect bleeding in soft tissues. The physician should evaluate the patient first.
D. Palpate the suspected area of bleeding for tenderness and edema. Palpating could worsen bleeding or cause pain, and the nurse should focus on ensuring the patient is seen promptly by the physician.
Free Nursing Test Bank
- Free Pharmacology Quiz 1
- Free Medical-Surgical Quiz 2
- Free Fundamentals Quiz 3
- Free Maternal-Newborn Quiz 4
- Free Anatomy and Physiology Quiz 5
- Free Obstetrics and Pediatrics Quiz 6
- Free Fluid and Electrolytes Quiz 7
- Free Community Health Quiz 8
- Free Promoting Health across the Lifespan Quiz 9
- Free Multidimensional Care Quiz 10
View Related questions
Correct Answer is C
Explanation
A. Cryoprecipitates: Cryoprecipitates contain fibrinogen, factor VIII, von Willebrand factor, and factor XIII, and are typically used for patients with specific factor deficiencies, such as hemophilia or fibrinogen deficiency, rather than general clotting disorders.
B. Frozen Packed Red Blood Cells (PRBCs): PRBCs are primarily used to treat anemia and to increase oxygen-carrying capacity, not to correct clotting factor deficiencies.
C. Fresh frozen plasma (FFP): Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) contains clotting factors and is administered to patients with clotting disorders to help manage bleeding by replenishing these factors.
D. Platelets: Platelets are administered to patients with thrombocytopenia or platelet dysfunction, not to replace clotting factors as needed in general clotting disorders.
Correct Answer is C
Explanation
A. Contact the surgeon to obtain orders for a nebulizer treatment from respiratory therapy. A nebulizer is typically not the initial intervention for mild post-operative pain or mild respiratory discomfort due to pain with inspiration.
B. Provide the patient with a heating pad alternated with a cold pack for incisional pain. While heat or cold therapy can help with pain, opioid pain management with encouragement to perform deep breathing exercises is more effective for post-splenectomy patients.
C. Medicate with opioids for pain and assist the patient to deep breathe, cough, and ambulate. Pain management combined with encouraging deep breathing, coughing, and early ambulation helps prevent post-operative complications like atelectasis and pneumonia, which are common after abdominal surgeries.
D. Contact the surgeon to request a chest x-ray and a laboratory draw for CBC with differential. This intervention might be necessary if there were signs of infection or other complications, but mild pain with inspiration on the first day post-op does not typically warrant imaging or labs.