Chapter 15 Respiratory Emergencies Flashcards
Your patient has a chronic respiratory condition. His stimulus to breathe is triggered by low oxygen levels in the blood. This is known as the:
Hypoxic drive
What must be assessed in every respiratory patient?
Lung sounds
Crackles (rails) are caused by:
Air passing through fluid
PASTE is own alternative assessment tool for:
Respiratory patients
What does PASTE stand for?
Provoke, progression Associated chest pain Sputum (color and amount) Talking, tiredness Exertion
What is a genetic disorder that predisposes the patient to repeated lung infections?
Cystic fibrosis
What area of the lungs does respiration occur?
Alveoli
In order for efficient pulmonary gas exchange to occur:
Oxygen and carbon dioxide must be able to freely defuse across the alveolarCapillary membrane
A 59-year-old male with a history of emphysema complains of an acute worsening of his dyspnea and pleuritic chest pain following a forceful cough. Your assessment reveals that he has a barrel shaped chest, unilaterally diminished breath sounds, and tachycardia. What is the most likely cause of this patient’s condition?
Spontaneous pneumothorax
Asthma is caused by a response of the:
Immune system
A 30-year-old male presents with acute shortness of breath, widespread hives, and facial swelling. He denies any past medical history and takes no medications. During your assessment, you hear wheezing over all the lung fields. His blood pressure is 90/50 mmHg and his heart rate is 110 bpm. In addition to giving him high flow oxygen, the most important treatment for this patient is:
Epinephrine
When auscultating the lungs of a patient with respiratory distress, you hear adventitious sounds. This means the patient has:
Abnormal breath sounds
While auscultating an elderly woman’s breath sounds, you hear a low pitched rattling sound at the bases of both her lungs. This finding is most consistent with what condition?
Aspiration pneumonia
You are in assisting an asthma patient with his prescribed metered dose inhaler. After the patient takes a deep breath and decompresses the inhaler, you should:
Instruct him to hold his breath for as long as he comfortably can
A plural effusion is most accurately defined as:
Fluid accumulation outside the lung
You are a tending to a 3-year-old male patient who is presenting with severe shortness of breath. His parents report that he has had a cough and cold with a low grade fever for the past two days. They became worried today, as his level of distress has increased dramatically. On assessment, the patient is sitting upright and making high-pitched noises with each breath. Based on this information, the patient is most likely suffering from:
A viral infection of the upper respiratory tract
His parents tell you that there son has had a chest infection for the past two days and when they took him to their family doctor, they were told it was likely due to a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). They have kept him well hydrated, but the infection seems to have gotten worse. On auscultation, you hear decreased air entry bilaterally with fine expiratory wheezes and the occasional course wet crackle. Based on this information, your patient is most likely suffering from:
Bronchiolitis
You are attending to a 54 year old female patient in a homeless shelter. The patient tells you that she had the flu a couple weeks ago, and she has not gotten over it. She has been tired and keeps waking up at night, sweating. She has been coughing up green sputum occasionally and has been experiencing episodes of chest pain that gets worse when she breathes. Based on this information, your patient is most likely suffering from:
Tuberculosis
If carbon dioxide levels drop too low, the person automatically breathes:
Slower and less steeply
If the levels of carbon dioxide in the arterial blood rises above normal, the patient breathes:
Rapidly and deeply
