Exam 5: Vital Signs

The nurse is working on the general surgical unit and is caring for a patient who has a right total mastectomy.To take the patient's vital signs and to accurately assess the patient's blood pressure,it will be necessary to:

The nurse is about to teach the patient about risk factors for hypertension.Which of the following are risk factors for hypertension?

When evaluating the radial pulse measurement technique of the nursing assistant,the nurse identifies appropriate technique when the assistant:

The nurse should report an assessment of _____ respirations per minute for a(n)_____.

The nurse chooses a sphygmomanometer that has a circular gauge and a needle that registers the millimeter calibrations.This type of device is known as a(n)_____ manometer.

When evaluating the patient's temperature levels,the nurse expects the patient's temperature to be lower:

___________ is the sound of the tricuspid and mitral valves closing at the end of ventricular filling.

The patient has an order to be off the floor for 15 minutes every 2 hours to smoke a cigarette.The patient has just returned from his "cigarette break." The nurse is about to take the patient's radial pulse and should:

The patient has been in the hospital for several days for urosepsis.He has been responding favorably to treatment,and his vital signs have been "normal" for 2 days.When the nurse takes his vital signs,however,the patient's apical pulse is 152 and regular.The nurse suspects that the:

___________,a subjective symptom,is also referred to as a vital sign,along with the physiological signs.

_________ is the sound of the pulmonic and aortic valves closing at the end of the systolic contraction.

The patient is complaining of a severe headache.The nurse takes the patient's blood pressure and finds it to be 240/110.What is the pulse pressure?

An inefficient contraction of the heart that fails to transmit a pulse wave to the peripheral pulse site creates a ____________.

What steps should the nurse take to conduct an assessment of a possible pulse deficit?

During his initial screening,the patient's blood pressure was noted to be elevated.Two months after the first assessment,he was noted to have a blood pressure of 150/92 and 166/96 at different times during the visit.It is now a month and a half later,and the nurse is concerned because the patient's initial blood pressure on this visit was 154/94.She is preparing to take a second blood pressure,understanding that another reading in this range could lead to a diagnosis of:

The nurse is about to take vital signs on a newborn patient in the nursery.She should:

The patient is returning from a cardiac catheterization.The puncture site is in the right femoral artery.The patient is having vital signs assessed every 15 minutes.Along with vital signs,the nurse assesses the pedal pulses of the right and left feet.Which of the following would be of major concern?

The patient was found in an alley on a cold winter night and is admitted with hypothermia from environmental exposure.She is elderly and is having difficulty breathing.Her breath sounds are diminished,and the tip of her nose is cyanotic.The nurse wants to assess the oxygen level in the patient's blood.She decides to use the pulse oximeter.The best way to apply this to this patient would be with a(n):

The patient is an 86-year-old woman who is being admitted for dehydration and pneumonia.The patient is lying in bed but tells the nurse that she needs to go to the bathroom.The nurse tells the patient that she will stay with her and will help her get there.The patient states,"That's OK.I can make it on my own." The nurse should:

The nurse is caring for an infant in the NICU.While taking vital signs,the nurse finds that the baby's heart rate is 195.The nurse calls the physician,knowing that the normal heart rate should be: