Exam 16: Ears

During an assessment of a 20-year-old Asian patient, the nurse notices that he has dry, flaky cerumen in his canal.The nurse recognizes this as:

A patient with a middle ear infection asks the nurse, "What does the middle ear do?" The nurse responds by telling the patient that the middle ear functions to:

The nurse is reviewing the function of the cranial nerves (CNs).Which CN is responsible for conducting nerve impulses to the brain from the organ of Corti?

The nurse is performing an otoscopic examination on an adult.Which of these actions is correct?

The mother of a 2-year-old is concerned because her son has had three ear infections in the past year.What would be an appropriate response by the nurse?

When reviewing the structures of the ear with a class of nursing students, the nurse discusses the importance of the function of the eustachian tube in:

The nurse is taking the history of a patient who may have a perforated eardrum.What would be an important question in this situation?

When performing an otoscopic examination of a 5-year-old child with a history of chronic ear infections, the nurse sees that his right tympanic membrane is amber-yellow in colour and that air bubbles are visible behind the tympanic membrane.The child reports occasional hearing loss and a popping sound with swallowing.The preliminary analysis based on this information is that the child:

In performing a voice test to assess hearing, which of these actions would the nurse perform?

During an otoscopic examination, the nurse notices an area of black and white dots on the tympanic membrane and the ear canal wall.What does this finding suggest?

The nurse is conducting a child safety class for new mothers.Which factor places young children at risk for ear infections?

The nurse is preparing to perform an otoscopic examination of a newborn infant.Which statement regarding this examination is true?

While discussing the history of a 6-month-old infant, the mother tells the nurse that she took a significant amount of aspirin while she was pregnant.What question would the nurse want to include during history taking?

While performing the otoscopic examination of a 3-year-old boy who has been pulling on his left ear, the nurse finds that his left tympanic membrane is bright red and that the light reflex is not visible.The nurse interprets these findings to indicate:

A patient has been shown to have a sensorineural hearing loss.During the assessment, it would be important for the nurse to:

The mother of a 2-year-old toddler is questioning the need for tympanostomy tubes in her son's ears.The nurse will provide the following information in the teaching plan:

The nurse assesses the hearing of a 7-month-old by clapping hands.What is the expected response? The infant:

The nurse is performing an assessment on a 65-year-old man.He reports a crusty nodule behind the pinna.It intermittently bleeds and has not healed over the past 6 months.On physical assessment, the nurse finds an ulcerated crusted nodule with an indurated base.The preliminary analysis in this situation is that this:

The nurse is examining a patient's ears and notices a yellow waxy substance in the external canal.The nurse recognizes this:

The nurse is performing a middle ear assessment on a 15-year-old patient who has had a history of chronic ear infections.When examining the right tympanic membrane, the nurse sees the presence of dense white patches.The tympanic membrane is otherwise unremarkable.It is pearly, with the light reflex at the 5 o'clock position and visible landmarks.The nurse should: