The nurse suspects that a patient being treated for cancer is ...

[09madisonrousseau09]

The nurse suspects that a patient being treated for cancer is developing septic shock. What did the nurse assess to come to this conclusion?
 
  1. high fever, peripheral edema, hypotension
  2. cardiac dysrhythmia, increased urine output, and confusion
  3. hypertension, increased urine output, and confusion
  4. subnormal temperature, cardiac dysrhythmia, and thirst

Question 2

A patient is scheduled for a nephrectomy for renal cancer. What should the nurse recognize is the goal for this surgery?
 
  1. removal of the kidney
  2. removal of the organ
  3. bypass an obstruction
  4. decrease in tumor size

[komodo7]

Answer to Question 1

Correct Answer: 1
Sepsis occurs when bacteria gain entrance to the blood, grow rapidly, and produce septicemia. Signs and symptoms appear in two phases. The first phase includes vasodilation with hypovolemia, high fever, peripheral edema, hypotension, tachycardia, tachypnea, hot flushed skin with creeping mottling beginning in the lower extremities, and anxiety or restlessness. Without treatment, the shock progresses to the second phase, which includes hypotension; rapid, thready pulse; respiratory distress; cyanosis; subnormal temperature; cold, clammy skin; decreased urinary output; and altered mentation. Cardiac dysrhythmias, increased urine output, hypertension, and thirst are not usual signs of septic shock.

Answer to Question 2

Correct Answer: 1
The decision to remove or resect an organ for cancer depends upon the organ and if there is some other means to replace the functioning of the lost organ. In the case of a nephrectomy, the patient's remaining kidney can maintain renal functioning. Kidney function cannot be replaced chemically. The removal of a kidney would not be done to bypass an obstruction or to decrease tumor size.