A nurse is caring for a pregnant client who is hypertensive. ...

[lunatika]

A nurse is caring for a pregnant client who is hypertensive. Which additional clinical manifestations leads the nurse to believe that the client is experiencing early preeclampsia?
 
  A) Persistent headache
  B) Excessive protein in the urine
  C) Right-sided abdominal pain
  D) Severe epigastric pain

Question 2

During a blood pressure screening, an older adult client tells the nurse about chest fluttering while doing yard work. The client reports no other symptoms and the frequency is intermittent.
 
  Which conclusion by the nurse is the most appropriate based on the data provided?
  A) Exercise intolerance
  B) Nonspecific cardiac changes with aging
  C) Underlying illness that requires a medical evaluation
  D) Hypothyroidism

[Jmfn03]

Answer to Question 1

Answer: B
Early signs of preeclampsia include high blood pressure and evidence of protein in the urine. Later symptoms include persistent headache and right-sided abdominal pain. Severe epigastric pain is a symptom of HELLP syndrome. The characteristics of HELLP are hemolysis (H), elevated liver enzymes (EL), and low platelet count (LP). The most common reasons for critical illness and death related to eclampsia are stroke or rupture of the mother's liver.

Answer to Question 2

Answer: C

New-onset atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmias may signal the onset of a serious underlying illness that requires further medical evaluation. Chest fluttering can be a sign of hyperthyroidism, not hypothyroidism. These symptoms are not normal cardiac changes. Exercise intolerance would include shortness of breath, which the client does not report.