The nurse and a client are discussing the client's tendency to develop numerous colds during the winter months. The client's health history reveals that he is a 1 pack a day smoker.
Which of the following nursing statements is most appropriate regarding the possible relationship between the client's cigarette smoking and the frequency of winter colds?
1. Smoking decreases your body's immune system, and so you can't fight off the colds as effectively.
2. If you stopped smoking you would have fewer colds and just generally feel bet-ter all year around.
3. The nicotine in the cigarettes has an effect on your blood vessels, decreasing the circulation of antibodies that would attack the cold viruses.
4. Smoking damages the little hairs in your nose and airways so they can't trap the airborne cold viruses and keep them from entering your body.
Question 2
A client enters a neighborhood walk-in clinic reporting the symptoms of a head cold. When the health care provider does not prescribe an antibiotic, the client asks the nurse to explain why not. The nurse's most appropriate response is:
1. Antibiotics aren't usually necessary for colds, and they are really very expensive if you don't have insurance.
2. You know what they say; a cold will go away with medication in 2 weeks; without medication in 14 days.
3. Your health care provider believes in treating the symptoms since there are so many different strains of the common cold.
4. Common colds don't usually require an antibiotic, and taking one results in making it harder to treat infections when they do occur.
Nurse-patient interaction; nonverbal communication
Sample client goals from the Wellness Massage Pyramid.
Nurse using a stethoscope
Testing the client’s ability to feel vibrations, the knee
Testing the Achilles tendon reflex with client in a sitting position