The nurse has noted that an 80-year-old patient's pedal pulses are faintly palpable and has raised the possibility of arterial insufficiency and decreased cardiac output with the patient's health care provider.
Which of the following statements should inform the nurse's interpretation of this assessment finding?
A) Due to age-related changes, the peripheral pulses of older adults are normally difficult to palpate.
B) In older adults, arterial insufficiency is not normally associated with decreased peripheral pulses.
C) Difficult palpation of the peripheral pulses is suggestive of venous insufficiency rather than arterial insufficiency.
D) Because of decreased elasticity of the arteries, the peripheral pulses of older adults are usually easy to palpate.
Question 2
A nursing student was attempting to palpate a patient's apical pulse and sought assistance from a classmate with landmarking the point of maximal impulse.
After the assessment, the classmate questioned the student, asking, What's the point of palpating your patient's pulse when auscultation gives you a lot more data? How can the student most accurately respond to the classmate's question?
A) Palpation of the patient's apex helps to gauge the degree of coronary artery disease.
B) Apical palpation informs an assessment of ventricular enlargement or turbulent blood flow.
C) The apical pulse will be difficult to palpate in patients who have acute coronary syndrome (ACS) but easy to palpate in healthy patients.
D) Apical palpation is a way of indirectly assessing a patient's peripheral vascular disease and arterial insufficiency.
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