FREE CMSRN Medical-Surgical Nursing Guide 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 Guide Questions and Answers flashcards as text
A nurse is assessing a patient with cirrhosis who has developed asterixis. This finding is most indicative of which complication?
Answer: Hepatic encephalopathy
Asterixis, a flapping tremor of the hands, is a classic neurological sign of hepatic encephalopathy caused by elevated ammonia levels.
Which nursing intervention is most appropriate for a patient experiencing autonomic dysreflexia?
Answer: Sit the patient upright and identify the triggering stimulus
Sitting the patient upright lowers blood pressure while identifying and removing the trigger, such as a kinked catheter or fecal impaction, resolves the episode.
A patient with acute pancreatitis has a nasogastric tube connected to low intermittent suction. Which acid-base imbalance is the nurse most likely to observe?
Answer: Metabolic alkalosis
Nasogastric suction removes hydrochloric acid from the stomach, leading to metabolic alkalosis.
Which assessment finding would the nurse expect in a patient with a tension pneumothorax?
Answer: Tracheal deviation away from the affected side with absent breath sounds
In tension pneumothorax, trapped air shifts mediastinal structures away from the affected side, and breath sounds are absent on that side.
A patient is admitted with syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone (SIADH). Which laboratory finding does the nurse anticipate?
Answer: Serum sodium of 118 mEq/L
SIADH causes water retention and dilutional hyponatremia, resulting in critically low serum sodium levels.
A nurse is caring for a patient with a chest tube. Which finding requires immediate intervention?
Answer: Continuous vigorous bubbling in the water seal chamber
Continuous vigorous bubbling in the water seal chamber indicates an air leak in the system that must be identified and corrected immediately.