ATI LPN
Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing 14e (Hinkle 2017)
Chapter 35 : Assessment of Immune Function Questions
Question 1 of 5
A nurse is reviewing the immune system before planning an immunocompromised patients care. How should the nurse characterize the humoral immune response?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The humoral response is characterized by the production of antibodies by B lymphocytes in response to a specific antigen. Phagocytosis and direct attack on microbes occur in the context of the cellular immune response.
Question 2 of 5
A patient is undergoing testing to determine the overall function of her immune system. What test can be performed to evaluate the functioning of the patients cellular immune system?
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Cellular (cell-mediated) immunity tests include the delayed hypersensitivity skin test, since this immune response is specifically dependent on the cellular immune response. Each of the other listed tests assesses functioning of the humoral immune system.
Question 3 of 5
Diagnostic testing has revealed a deficiency in the function of a patients complement system. This patient is likely to have an impaired ability to do which of the following?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Complement has three major physiologic functions: defending the body against bacterial infection, bridging natural and acquired immunity, and disposing of immune complexes and the byproducts associated with inflammation. Complement does not mark the parameters of the immune response; complement does not collect immune complexes during inflammation.
Question 4 of 5
A patients current immune response involves the direct destruction of foreign microorganisms. This aspect of the immune response may be performed by what cells?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Cytotoxic T cells (also called CD8 + cells) participate in the destruction of foreign organisms. Memory T cells and suppressor T cells do not perform this role in the immune response. The complement system does not exist as a type of T cell.
Question 5 of 5
A nurse is explaining how the humoral and cellular immune responses should be seen as interacting parts of the broader immune system rather than as independent and unrelated processes. What aspect of immune function best demonstrates this?
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: T cells interact closely with B cells, indicating that humoral and cellular immune responses are not separate, unrelated processes, but rather branches of the immune response that interact. Movement of B cells does not clearly show the presence of a unified immune system. The differentiation between types of T cells and the role of the complement system do not directly suggest a single immune system.