Answer to Question 1
ANS: A
Common side effects of 5-FU include fatigue, leukopenia, diarrhea, mucositis and mouth ulcers, and peripheral neuropathy. However, the client's WBC count is very low (normal range is 5000 to 10,000/mm3), so the provider should be notified. He or she may want to delay chemotherapy by a day or two. Certainly the client is at high risk for infection. The other assessment findings are consistent with common side effects of 5-FU that would not need to be reported immediately.
Answer to Question 2
ANS: D
A change in the nature and timing of abdominal pain in a client with a bowel obstruction can signal peritonitis or perforation. The nurse should immediately check for rebound tenderness and the absence of bowel sounds. The nurse should not medicate the client until the provider has been notified of the change in his or her condition. The nurse may help the client to the knee-chest position for comfort, but this is not the priority action. The nurse need not insert a nasogastric tube for decompression.
Critical thinking involves analysis in which the nurse examines patient data available from a variet
Client position when assessing jugular vein distention.
Weber test: Place the base of the tuning fork on top of the client’s head.
Nurse palpating the patient's brachial artery
Measuring the client’s weight with a standard platform scale
Approaching the client for the ophthalmoscopic exam