A nurse is performing a physical assessment on a client who has abdominal pain.

Which of the following techniques should the nurse use to assess the abdomen?

Inspection, auscultation, percussion, palpation

Rationale: The correct order of techniques for abdominal assessment is inspection, auscultation, percussion, and palpation. This order prevents altering bowel sounds by manipulating the abdomen before listening to them.

Incorrect options:

A) Inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation - This order may alter bowel sounds by palpating and percussing before auscultating them.

C) Auscultation, inspection, palpation, percussion - This order may miss visual cues by inspecting after auscultating.

D) Palpation, auscultation, inspection, percussion - This order may alter bowel sounds and miss visual cues by palpating before auscultating and inspecting.

The client's chest x-ray shows clear lung fields.

Rationale: A chest x-ray is a diagnostic test that can confirm the presence or absence of pneumonia by showing areas of consolidation or infiltration in the lung tissue. A clear chest x-ray indicates resolution of pneumonia and effectiveness of treatment.

Incorrect options:

A) The client's temperature is 37.2°C (99°F). - This is a normal finding, but it does not rule out pneumonia as some clients may have low-grade fever or no fever at all with pneumonia.

B) The client's white blood cell count is 12.5 x 10^9/L. - This is an elevated finding, as the normal range for white blood cell count is 4.5 to 11 x 10^9/L. An elevated white blood cell count indicates inflammation or infection and does not reflect the effectiveness of treatment.

C) The client's oxygen saturation is 95% on room air. - This is a normal finding, as the normal range for oxygen saturation is 95% to 100%. However, it does not indicate the severity or resolution of pneumonia, as some clients may have normal oxygen saturation despite having pneumonia.