NCLEX-PN
Maternity NCLEX Questions Questions
Extract:
Question 1 of 5
The postpartum client delivered a healthy newborn 36 hours previously. The nurse finds the client crying and asks what is wrong. The client replies, “Nothing, really. I’m not in pain or anything, but I just seem to cry a lot for no reason.” What should be the nurse’s first intervention?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The client’s support person should be given information about postpartum blues before the client is discharged from the hospital. However, contacting that individual should not be the first intervention. Reminding the client that she has a healthy baby is a nontherapeutic communication technique that implies disapproval of the client’s actions. There is no need to notify the HCP, as postpartum blues is a common self-limiting postpartum occurrence. A key feature of postpartum blues is episodic tearfulness without an identifiable reason. Interventions for postpartum blues include allowing the client to relive her birth experience.
Question 2 of 5
The postpartum client delivered a healthy newborn 36 hours previously. The nurse finds the client crying and asks what is wrong. The client replies, “Nothing, really. I’m not in pain or anything, but I just seem to cry a lot for no reason.” What should be the nurse’s first intervention?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The client’s support person should be given information about postpartum blues before the client is discharged from the hospital. However, contacting that individual should not be the first intervention. Reminding the client that she has a healthy baby is a nontherapeutic communication technique that implies disapproval of the client’s actions. There is no need to notify the HCP, as postpartum blues is a common self-limiting postpartum occurrence. A key feature of postpartum blues is episodic tearfulness without an identifiable reason. Interventions for postpartum blues include allowing the client to relive her birth experience.
Question 3 of 5
The nurse, admitting a 40-week primigravida to the labor unit, just documented the results of a recent vaginal exam: 3/100/—2, RSP. How should the oncoming shift nurse interpret this documentation?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The nurse should interpret 3/100/—2, RSP as the cervix is 3 cm dilated, 100% effaced, and the fetus is 2 cm above the maternal ischial spines. RSP means that the fetus is to the right of the mother’s pelvis (R), with the sacrum as the specific presenting part (S), which is a breech position. This fetus is also posterior (P). At —2, the fetus is 2 cm above, not below, the maternal ischial spines. Two centimeters below the ischial spines would be recorded as +2. The cervix is 3 cm, not totally dilated.
Total dilation would be documented as 10 for the first number. Also, the cervix is 100% effaced, which is total effacement (shortening and thinning out). Fetal lie (relationship of long axis or spine of fetus to long axis of mother) is longitudinal, not transverse. The documentation does not specify if the fetal attitude is flexion.
Question 4 of 5
The postpartum client suffered a fourth-degree perineal laceration during her vaginal birth. Which interventions should the nurse add to the client’s plan of care? Select all that apply.
Correct Answer: C,E
Rationale: Activity should be increased, not decreased, to reduce the potential for constipation. Fluids should be increased, not decreased, to reduce the potential for dehydration and constipation. The client with a fourth-degree perineal laceration should be instructed to increase dietary fiber to help maintain bowel continence and decrease perineal trauma from constipation. A perineal laceration will not affect the condition of the uterus; there is no need to increase uterine monitoring. The client with a fourth-degree perineal laceration should be given a stool softener bid to help maintain bowel continence and decrease perineal trauma from constipation.
Question 5 of 5
The client at 32 weeks’ gestation presents to a hospital with a severe headache. Her admission BP is 184/104 mm Hg. Based on the assessment and findings of the serum laboratory report, which most severe complication warrants the nurse’s further assessment?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: It is most important for the nurse to further assess for HELLP syndrome, a variation of pregnancy-induced hypertension characterized by hemolysis (elevated bilirubin), elevated liver enzymes, and low platelets. The laboratory results do not show the serum creatinine level, so no inferences can be made about renal failure. Although liver enzymes are elevated, HELLP syndrome is a more severe complication associated with pregnancy. Preeclampsia commonly coexists with HELLP syndrome; however, these laboratory findings show worsening symptoms that are associated with HELLP syndrome.