The nurse is caring for a client with type 2 diabetes mellitus who had surgery for a large bowel resection with a colostomy placement. The client has now developed hyperglycemia which require self injections of insulin after discharge. When designing the postoperative plan of care, which outcome statement should the nurse use?

A. Document the absence of the radial pulse:

While it's important to document findings accurately, it's also crucial to ensure that blood pressure measurements are obtained correctly. If the radial pulse becomes unpalpable before reaching the expected systolic pressure, further action is needed to obtain an accurate measurement.

B. Release the manometer valve immediately:

Releasing the manometer valve immediately would lead to deflating the cuff and potentially missing the opportunity to obtain an accurate blood pressure measurement. This action is not appropriate at this stage.

C. Inflate blood pressure cuff to 120 mm Hg:

When the radial pulse becomes unpalpable during cuff inflation, it indicates that the cuff pressure is above the systolic pressure. To accurately determine the systolic pressure, the cuff should be inflated to a higher pressure (usually 20-30 mm Hg above the point where the radial pulse disappears) and then slowly deflated while palpating for the return of the radial pulse.

D. Record a palpable systolic pressure of 90 mm Hg:

If the radial pulse is no longer palpable at 90 mm Hg, this suggests that the true systolic pressure is higher than 90 mm Hg. Recording a palpable systolic pressure of 90 mm Hg without further action would likely underestimate the true systolic pressure.

To determine how many tablespoons the client should take with each dose, we need to first calculate the dosage in tablespoons based on the concentration of the oral suspension.

Given:

Dextromethorphan oral suspension concentration: 30 mg per 15 mL

To find out how many milliliters the client should take per dose:

The prescribed dose is 30 mg.

So, if 15 mL contains 30 mg, then 1 mL contains:

30 mg / 15 mL = 2 mg/mL

To find out how many milliliters the client should take for the prescribed dose:

30 mg / 2 mg/mL = 15 mL

Now, we know that the prescribed dose is 15 mL. To convert this to tablespoons, we can use the fact that 1 tablespoon (tbsp) is equal to 15 milliliters.

So, the client should take:

15 mL / 15 mL/tbsp = 1 tablespoon

Therefore, the nurse should instruct the client to take 1 tablespoon with each dose.