ATI LPN
Perioperative Care Fundamentals Practice Questions Quizlet Questions
Question 1 of 5
A clinic nurse is caring for a patient who has just been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The patient asks the nurse what he could have done to minimize the risk of contracting this disease. What would be the nurses best answer?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: Cigarette smoking is the most significant risk factor for COPD, driving 85-90% of cases by causing chronic airway inflammation, ciliary damage, and alveolar destruction (e.g., emphysema). The nurse's response highlights this preventable cause, emphasizing that quitting or never starting smoking drastically reduces risk, as smoke's tar and chemicals progressively impair lung function over decades. Occupational toxins (e.g., silica) contribute but are far less prevalent, affecting specific worker subsets. Inadequate exercise doesn't cause COPD, though it may worsen symptoms. Dust and pollen trigger allergies or asthma, not COPD's irreversible obstruction. Educating the patient on smoking's primacy quantified by pack-years underscores its outsized role, aligning with epidemiology (e.g., CDC data) and empowering lifestyle change to mitigate progression.
Question 2 of 5
The case manager for a group of patients with COPD is providing health education. What is most important for the nurse to assess when providing instructions on self-management to these patients?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: In COPD self-management education, the nurse must assess patients' knowledge of self-care and their therapeutic regimen e.g., medication use (inhalers), breathing techniques, and exacerbation action plans as it's most important for daily control and preventing hospitalization. Understanding how to use bronchodilators, adhere to schedules, and recognize worsening symptoms (e.g., increased dyspnea) empowers patients to manage this chronic, irreversible condition effectively, per COPD guidelines (e.g., GOLD). Alternative treatments (e.g., acupuncture) lack evidence for core management. Family awareness of ADLs helps support but isn't the patient's primary learning need. Pathophysiology knowledge aids context but isn't essential for practical self-care. The nurse's focus on this area ensures adherence and skill mastery, critical for long-term COPD outcomes.
Question 3 of 5
The nurse is caring for a patient in the postanesthesia care unit. The patient has developed profuse bleeding from the surgical site, and the surgeon has determined the need to return to the operative area. This procedure would be classified as
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: An emergency procedure is required immediately to save life or preserve function, as with profuse postoperative bleeding necessitating urgent return to the operating room to control hemorrhage. This life-threatening situation distinguishes it from elective procedures, chosen by patients for non-essential issues like cosmetic surgery, or urgent ones, needed for health but not immediate survival, such as tumor excision. Major procedures involve extensive reconstruction, like coronary bypass, but aren't defined by urgency. The rapid intervention here prevents hypovolemic shock or organ damage, reflecting the critical nature of emergency classification. The nurse's recognition ensures swift coordination, highlighting the priority of stabilizing the patient over less acute classifications, per surgical standards.
Question 4 of 5
The nurse is encouraging a reluctant postoperative patient to deep breathe and cough. What explanation can the nurse provide that may encourage the patient to cough more effectively?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Explaining that coughing won't harm the incision if done correctly with splinting reassures the patient, encouraging effective coughing to clear mucus trapped by anesthesia's suppression of reflexes. This reduces atelectasis risk without fear of wound damage. Warning of pneumonia, while true, sounds threatening and less therapeutic. Coughing clears mucus, not anesthesia (metabolized by the body), so that's inaccurate. Limiting coughs to ‘a few times' underestimates the need every 2 hours is standard. This positive, accurate encouragement boosts compliance, ensuring respiratory health while protecting surgical integrity, per evidence-based recovery practices.
Question 5 of 5
The nurse is caring for a patient intraoperatively. Primary roles of the circulating nurse include
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The circulating nurse, a registered nurse, primarily establishes and implements the care plan intraoperatively, coordinating preoperative assessments, intraoperative needs, and postoperative continuity. This role oversees patient safety, advocacy, and resource management, distinct from the scrub nurse's tasks maintaining sterile fields, applying drapes, and handing instruments which focus on technical support. The circulator's broader responsibility ensures holistic care, like verifying consents or allergies, adapting to complications, and documenting, aligning with perioperative nursing's comprehensive scope to protect patient well-being throughout surgery.