Following three days of nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, an older adult is admitted with severe dehydration. After two attempts, the nurse secured venous access using a 24-gauge IV catheter and began infusing 0.9% normal saline at 150 mL/hour. Minutes later, the client reports pain at the IV site. Which intervention should the nurse implement first?

Assess the IV site for blood return.

Stop the 0.9% normal saline infusion.

Establish IV access in a different extremity.

Select a different gauge IV needle.

Answer and Explanation

The Correct Answer is B

Choice A reason: Assessing blood return checks patency, but pain suggests infiltration or phlebitis, where saline leaks into tissues. Stopping the infusion prevents further tissue damage, as extravasation causes swelling or necrosis, especially in dehydrated elderly clients, making assessment secondary to halting infusion.

Choice B reason: Stopping the saline infusion is the priority, as pain at the IV site suggests infiltration or phlebitis, with fluid irritating tissues or veins. Halting infusion prevents damage, allowing safe assessment and management, critical in fragile elderly veins, ensuring no further harm during rehydration.

Choice C reason: Establishing new IV access is necessary post-infiltration but not first. Pain indicates ongoing tissue irritation from saline leakage, requiring immediate infusion cessation to prevent damage. Stopping the infusion ensures safety before reattempting access, critical in dehydrated patients needing fluid replacement.

Choice D reason: Selecting a different gauge needle is irrelevant, as the 24-gauge catheter is placed, and pain indicates infiltration, not size. Stopping the infusion prevents extravasation, which risks compartment syndrome in elderly clients, making this less immediate than halting the infusion for safety.

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Correct Answer is B

Explanation

Choice A reason: Administering warfarin with an INR of 4.8 is dangerous, as it exceeds the therapeutic range (2.0–3.0), indicating excessive anticoagulation. This risks bleeding, as warfarin inhibits vitamin K-dependent clotting factors. Notifying the provider ensures dose adjustment or reversal, preventing hemorrhage, making this action unsafe.

Choice B reason: An INR of 4.8 indicates over-anticoagulation in atrial fibrillation, increasing bleeding risk due to warfarin’s inhibition of clotting factors. Notifying the provider is critical for dose reduction or vitamin K administration, addressing the pathophysiological risk of hemorrhage, ensuring patient safety and preventing life-threatening complications.

Choice C reason: Encouraging green leafy vegetables, high in vitamin K, counteracts warfarin, lowering INR, but is inappropriate without provider guidance at INR 4.8, risking bleeding. Provider notification ensures controlled management, as unregulated dietary changes disrupt anticoagulation stability, making this action potentially harmful.

Choice D reason: Monitoring for bleeding is important but secondary to notifying the provider at INR 4.8, indicating critical over-anticoagulation. Immediate provider intervention adjusts warfarin or administers reversal agents, preventing hemorrhage. Monitoring delays urgent action needed to correct the clotting factor imbalance, making it less immediate.

A. Administer a PRN narcotic. B. Ask the husband to step out. C. Have delivery table set up. D. Notify rapid response team.

Correct Answer is C

Explanation

Choice A reason: Administering a PRN narcotic at 9 cm dilation is inappropriate, as labor is in transition, nearing delivery. Narcotics risk fetal respiratory depression, crossing the placenta, especially with a stable fetal heart rate (120 beats/minute). Preparing for imminent delivery is critical, prioritizing a safe birth environment over pain relief.

Choice B reason: Asking the husband to leave does not address the client’s advanced labor (9 cm, 100% effaced, frequent contractions). His presence may provide support, and removal could increase distress. Setting up the delivery table is urgent, as birth is imminent, ensuring a sterile, safe environment for delivery.

Choice C reason: At 9 cm dilation, 100% effacement, and contractions every 2 minutes, the client is in transition, with delivery imminent. Setting up the delivery table ensures readiness for vaginal birth, providing a sterile field and equipment, addressing the physiological progression of labor for safe delivery of the newborn.

Choice D reason: Notifying the rapid response team is unnecessary, as the fetal heart rate (120 beats/minute) is normal (110–160), and screaming reflects labor pain. Delivery is imminent, making table setup the priority to facilitate safe birth, avoiding escalation to emergency response for a normal labor progression.

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Naxlex Comprehensive Predictor Exams

A client with a history of atrial fibrillation is prescribed warfarin. The nurse notes the client’s INR is 4.8. Which action should the nurse take? Reference Range: INR [2.0 to 3.0 for atrial fibrillation].

Correct Answer is B

Explanation

A primigravida at 40 weeks gestation is contracting every 2 minutes, and her cervix is 9 cm dilated and 100% effaced. The fetal heart rate is 120 beats/minute. The client is screaming and her husband is alarmed. Which intervention should the nurse implement?

Correct Answer is C

Explanation

During a home visit, the nurse assesses the skin of a client with eczema who reports that an exacerbation of symptoms has occurred during the last week. Which information is most useful in determining the possible cause of the symptoms?

Based on the capillary glucose measurement, a client is to receive 10 units of regular insulin. The client’s medication drawer contains one vial of a 70/30 mixture of regular insulin and isophane insulin. How should the nurse prepare the prescribed dose?

Following admission for a cardiac catheterization, the nurse is providing discharge teaching to the parents of a 2-year-old toddler with Tetralogy of Fallot. Which instruction should the nurse give the parents if their child becomes pale, cool, and lethargic?

The nurse is assessing a client with a history of heart failure who reports new-onset dyspnea and fatigue. Which finding requires the most immediate intervention?

The nurse is changing a client’s abdominal surgical dressing. Which finding warrants notification to the healthcare provider?

When the nurse discontinues a 24-hour postoperative client’s patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump, the client asks to go to the hospital’s smoking area to smoke a cigarette. Which response should the nurse provide?

Which instruction should the nurse provide a client who was recently diagnosed with Raynaud’s disease?

When advising a new mother in caring for a child with croup, which symptom should be a priority concern to the telephone triage nurse?