Exam 63: Nursing Management: Musculoskeletal Trauma and Orthopedic Surgery

Following x-rays of an injured wrist, the patient is informed that it is badly sprained. In teaching the patient to care for the injury, the nurse tells the patient to

A checkout clerk in a grocery store has muscle and tendon tears that have become inflamed, causing pain and weakness in the left hand and elbow. The nurse identifies these symptoms as related to

Following the application of a hip spica cast for a patient with a fracture of the proximal third of the left femur, an appropriate nursing intervention is to

A patient with a fractured pelvis is initially treated with bed rest with no turning from side to side permitted. The second day after admission, the patient develops chest pain, tachypnea, and tachycardia. The nurse determines that the patient's symptoms are most likely related to fat embolism when assessment of the patient reveals

When working with a patient whose job involves many hours of word processing, the nurse will teach the patient about the need to

A patient who has been hospitalized for 3 days with a hip fracture and Buck's traction has sudden onset shortness of breath and tachypnea. The patient tells the nurse, "I feel like I am going to die!" Which action should the nurse take first?

When giving home-care instructions to a patient who has multiple forearm fractures and a long-arm cast on the right arm, which information should the nurse include?

A patient with severe osteoarthritis of the left knee has undergone left-knee arthroplasty with replacement of the total knee joint with a plastic prosthesis. Postoperatively, the nurse expects care of the leg to include

When preparing a patient to ambulate the day after an ORIF for a hip fracture, which action is most important for the nurse to take?

A patient who has a proximal humerus fracture that is immobilized with a left-sided long-arm cast, and a sling is admitted to the medical-surgical unit. Which nursing intervention will be included in the plan of care?

The nurse provides discharge instructions to a patient with an above-the-knee amputation who will be fitted with a prosthesis when healing is complete and the residual limb is well molded. The nurse determines that teaching has been effective when the patient says,

All these medications are ordered at 9:00 AM for a patient who has had a right-hip replacement the previous day and is scheduled to ambulate with the physical therapist for the first time at 9:45. Which medication should be given first?

A patient who has severe peripheral arterial disease and ischemic foot ulcers is upset with the health care provider's recommendation to have an above-the-knee amputation. The patient tells the nurse, "If they want to cut off my leg, they should just shoot me instead." The most appropriate response to the patient's statement is,

A patient with comminuted fractures of the tibia and fibula is treated with open reduction and application of an external fixator. The next day, the patient complains of severe pain in the leg, which is unrelieved by ordered analgesics. The patient's toes are pink, but the patient complains of numbness and tingling. The most appropriate action by the nurse is to

In developing a care plan for a patient with an open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of an open, displaced fracture of the tibia, the priority nursing diagnosis is

A patient with a comminuted fracture of the right femur has Buck's traction in place while waiting for surgery. To assess for pressure areas on the patient's back and sacral area and to provide skin care, the nurse should

Following a motor-vehicle accident, a patient arrives in the emergency department with massive right lower-leg swelling. Which action will the nurse take first?

A patient has a short-arm plaster cast applied at the outpatient center for a wrist fracture. An understanding of discharge teaching is apparent when the patient says,

When evaluating the crutch-walking technique of a patient with a right-leg long-leg cast and no weight bearing on the right leg, the nurse determines that the patient is prepared to ambulate independently with the crutches on observing that the patient

The nurse observes a patient doing all these activities after having a hip-replacement surgery. Which patient action requires that the nurse intervene immediately?