FREE CMSRN Medical-Surgical Nursing General Questions and Answers Flashcards
6 cards from real CMSRN practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 FREE CMSRN Medical-Surgical Nursing General Questions and Answers flashcards as text
A patient with chronic kidney disease has a glomerular filtration rate of 12 mL/min. Which clinical manifestation should the nurse anticipate?
Answer: Uremic frost and pruritus
A GFR of 12 mL/min indicates stage 5 CKD where uremic toxins accumulate, causing uremic frost, pruritus, and other systemic symptoms.
A patient is admitted with acute pancreatitis. Which laboratory value is most consistent with this diagnosis?
Answer: Serum lipase elevated to 5 times the upper limit of normal
Serum lipase elevated to 5 times normal is highly specific for acute pancreatitis and remains elevated longer than amylase.
Which nursing action is essential when caring for a patient with a chest tube connected to a water-seal drainage system?
Answer: Ensure tidaling is present in the water-seal chamber during inspiration
Tidaling in the water-seal chamber confirms the system is patent and properly functioning with normal pressure changes during breathing.
A patient with myasthenia gravis develops sudden worsening of weakness and respiratory difficulty. Which assessment helps differentiate myasthenic crisis from cholinergic crisis?
Answer: Administration of edrophonium with monitoring for symptom improvement
Edrophonium (Tensilon) temporarily improves symptoms in myasthenic crisis but worsens symptoms in cholinergic crisis, differentiating the two.
A nurse is caring for a patient in septic shock. Which hemodynamic finding is characteristic of the early warm phase?
Answer: Decreased systemic vascular resistance with increased cardiac output
Early septic shock features vasodilation causing decreased SVR while the heart compensates with increased cardiac output, producing warm flushed skin.
A patient with a traumatic brain injury has an intracranial pressure of 28 mmHg. Which nursing intervention should be avoided?
Answer: Clustering nursing care activities together
Clustering care activities causes cumulative stimulation that further elevates already dangerously high intracranial pressure.