The nurse is planning the interventions for a client diagnosed with pneumococcal pneumonia. Which intervention should provide the most improvement in the client's ventilation?

Correct Answer: D

Rationale: Adequate pain relief (D) most improves ventilation in pneumococcal pneumonia pleuritic pain (e.g., 7/10) restricts breathing, and analgesia (e.g., ibuprofen) boosts tidal volume (Vt ≈500 mL). Coughing (A) clears airways but not ventilation directly. Fluids (B) aid mucus, not air entry. Pulmonary hygiene (C) supports clearance, not primary ventilation. The document's answer (D) aligns pain relief reduces splinting, enhancing V/Q match, distinguishing it from A's secondary effect.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The windpipe is the trachea, a tube of C-shaped cartilage rings extending from the larynx to the bronchi, conducting air to the lungs while filtering it with cilia and mucus. The larynx, above, houses vocal cords. Lungs are the exchange organs, not a tube. The esophagus transports food, not air. 'Trachea' is the precise term, reflecting its role as the airway's main conduit, essential for breathing, a key anatomical distinction in respiratory structure and function, critical for procedures like tracheostomy.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The tricuspid valve allows blood to pass from the right atrium to the right ventricle, opening during diastole and closing during systole to prevent backflow its three cusps ensure one-way flow. The bicuspid (mitral) valve serves the left side. The interventricular septum separates ventricles, not a passage. The mitral valve is left-sided, not right. Named for its three leaflets, the tricuspid's role is pivotal in right heart circulation, a fundamental valve in cardiac flow, critical in conditions like tricuspid regurgitation affecting pulmonary return.

Correct Answer: D

Rationale: The cardiac conduction system sinoatrial (SA) node, atrioventricular (AV) node, bundle of His, and Purkinje fibers provides the path for electrical excitation, pacing the heartbeat from SA node initiation through ventricular contraction. The systemic circuit is blood flow, not conduction. Intercalated discs connect fibers, not a network. The cardiovascular center in the medulla regulates rate, not the path. This system's specialized fibers ensure rapid, orderly spread, critical for synchronized pumping, a cornerstone of cardiac physiology and target in conduction disorders like heart block.

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: The T wave on an ECG represents ventricular repolarization, when potassium exits cells, relaxing the myocardium after systole key to resetting for the next beat. The R wave, part of the QRS complex, shows ventricular depolarization and contraction. The S wave completes QRS, not repolarization. The P wave is atrial depolarization. The T wave's shape and timing reflect recovery, critical in diagnostics e.g., inverted T waves signal ischemia making it a cornerstone of ECG interpretation and cardiac health assessment.