Chapter 6: Individual and Family Homeostasis, Stress, and Adaptation - Nurselytic

Correct Answer: A

Rationale: After recognizing a stressor, a person consciously or unconsciously reacts to manage the situation. This is termed the mediating process. Nothing in the scenario indicates the patient is either in denial or feeling overwhelmed. Awareness of stress does not necessarily exacerbate it.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: Physical stressors include cold, heat, and chemical agents; physiologic stressors include pain and fatigue. A chemical spill is neither a psychiatric nor a psychosocial phenomenon.

Correct Answer: D

Rationale: The inflammatory response is often confined to the site, causing only local signs and symptoms. However, systemic responses can also occur. During this process, general, nonspecific symptoms develop, including malaise, loss of appetite, aching, and weakness. The fact that the patient is experiencing systemic effects such as lethargy, malaise, aching, weakness, and loss of appetite suggests that inflammation is not limited to one specific site.

Correct Answer: A

Rationale: Regardless of the cause, a general sequence of events occurs in the local inflammatory response. This sequence involves changes in the microcirculation, including vasodilation, increased vascular permeability, and leukocytic cellular infiltration. As these changes take place, five cardinal signs of inflammation are produced: redness, heat, swelling, pain, and loss of function. Infections do not always resolve spontaneously. The nurse should teach the patients father about the reasons that antibiotics are unnecessary rather than simply deferring to the physician.

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: Mechanisms for adjusting internal conditions promote the normal steady state of the organism and its survival. These mechanisms are compensatory in nature and work to restore balance in the body. Adaptation is a part of the concept of steady state; it is not the concept itself.