A patient is exhibiting a lack of coordination, clumsy movements, ...

[Wadzanai]

A patient is exhibiting a lack of coordination, clumsy movements, and an unbalanced gait. What term should the nurse use when documenting these observations?
 
  1. flaccidity
  2. paralysis
  3. hemiparesis
  4. ataxia

Question 2

The nurse is preparing to assess a patient's cognitive function. What should the nurse include in this assessment?
 
  1. ability to smell items placed under the nose while eyes are closed
  2. orientation to time, place, and person, and ability to recall recent and past events
  3. ability to walk with a smooth, steady gait
  4. level of consciousness

[Cheesycrackers]

Answer to Question 1

Correct Answer: 4
Ataxia is characterized by a lack of coordination, clumsy movements, and an unbalanced gait. Flaccidity is a reduction in muscle tone associated with disease or trauma of the lower motor neurons and early stroke. Paralysis and hemiparesis are abnormal conditions in which movement does not occur at all in a part or is impaired.

Answer to Question 2

Correct Answer: 2
Cognitive function includes orientation to time, place, and person and the ability to recall recent and past events. Assessing the patient's ability to smell items placed under the nose while the eyes are closed is the method used to test cranial nerve I, the olfactory nerve. Level of consciousness and gait are not reflective of cognitive function.

[Wadzanai]

Excellent

[strudel15]

TYSM