Exam 25: Neurological System

A patient has a severed spinal nerve as a result of trauma.Which statement is true in this situation?

The nurse is performing an assessment on a 29-year-old woman who is at the clinic complaining of "always dropping things and falling down." While testing rapid alternating movements, the nurse notices that the woman is unable to pat both of her knees.Her response is extremely slow and she frequently misses.What should the nurse suspect?

The nurse is reviewing a patient's medical record and notes that he is in a coma.Using the Glasgow Coma Scale, which number indicates that the patient is in a coma?

A mother of a 1-month-old infant asks the nurse why it takes so long for infants to learn to roll over.The nurse knows that the reason for this is:

The ability that humans have to perform very skilled movements, such as writing, is controlled by the:

While obtaining a health history of a 3-month-old infant from the mother, the nurse asks about the infant's ability to suck and grasp the mother's finger.What is the nurse assessing?

The assessment of a 60-year-old patient has taken longer than anticipated.In testing his pain perception, the nurse decides to complete the test as quickly as possible.When the nurse applies the sharp point of the pin on his arm several times, he is only able to identify these as one "very sharp prick." What would be the most accurate explanation for this?

A 50-year-old woman is in the clinic for weakness in her left arm and leg that she has noticed for the past week.The nurse should perform which type of neurological examination?

The nurse is caring for a patient who has just had neurosurgery.To assess for increased intracranial pressure, what would the nurse include in the assessment?

During the health history interview with a 78-year-old man, his wife states that he occasionally has problems with short-term memory loss and confusion: "He can't even remember how to button his shirt." When assessing his sensory system, which action by the nurse is most appropriate?

The area of the nervous system that is responsible for mediating reflexes is the:

During the neurological assessment of an apparently healthy 35-year-old patient, the nurse asks him to relax his muscles completely.The nurse then moves each extremity through full range of motion.Which of these results would the nurse expect to find?

In assessing a 70-year-old patient who has had a recent cerebrovascular accident, the nurse notices right-sided weakness.What might the nurse expect to find when testing his reflexes on the right side?

While the nurse is taking the history of a 68-year-old patient who sustained a head injury 3 days earlier, he tells the nurse that he is on a cruise ship and that he is 30 years of age.The nurse knows that this finding is indicative of a(n):

During the assessment of an 80-year-old patient, the nurse notices that his hands show tremors when he reaches for something and his head is always nodding.No associated rigidity is observed with movement.Which of these statements is most accurate?

The nurse is assessing the neurological status of a patient who has a late-stage brain tumour.With the reflex hammer, the nurse draws a light stroke up the lateral side of the sole of the foot and inward, across the ball of the foot.In response, the patient's toes fan out, and the big toe shows dorsiflexion.The nurse interprets this result as:

As part of a neurological examination, the nurse is testing the DTRs of a 30-year-old woman.When striking the Achilles heel and quadriceps muscle, the nurse is unable to elicit a reflex.The nurse's next response should be to:

The nurse knows that testing kinesthesia is a test of a person's:

During the taking of the health history, a patient tells the nurse that "it feels like the room is spinning around me." The nurse would document this finding as:

Which of these tests would the nurse use to check the motor coordination of an 11-month-old infant?