Immunity

Question 1

The nurse is caring for a patient who was started on intravenous antibiotic therapy earlier in
the shift. As the second dose is being infused, the patient reports feeling dizzy and having difficulty breathing and talking. The nurse notes that the patient’s respirations are 26 breaths/min with a weak pulse of 112 beats/min. The nurse suspects that the patient is experiencing which condition?

Answer 1

Anaphylactic reaction

The patient is exhibiting signs and symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction to the medication

Question 2

While caring for a patient preparing for a kidney transplant, the nurse knows that the patient understands teaching on immunosuppression when she makes which statement?

Answer 2

“The medications that I take will help prevent my body from attacking my new kidney.”

Immunosuppressant therapy is initiated to inhibit optimal immune response. This is necessary
in the case of transplantation, because the normal immune response would cause the body to
recognize the new tissue as foreign and attack it. The body will identify the new kidney as foreign and will not treat it as the original kidney.

Question 3

An 18-month-old female patient is diagnosed with her fifth ear infection in the past 10 months. The physician notes that the child’s growth rate has decreased from the 60th
percentile for height and weight to the 15th percentile over that same time period. The child
has been treated for thrush consistently since the third ear infection. The nurse understands
that the patient is at risk for which condition?

Answer 3

Primary immunodeficiency

Primary immunodeficiency is a risk for patients with two or more of the listed problems.