At 0800, a nurse responds to a monitoring alarm for an adult client who is 36 hours post-operative from an open reduction and internal fixation of a fractured right femur. The client appears highly restless, confused, and is expectorating small amounts of blood-tinged sputum. Vital signs reveal a heart rate of 126 beats/min, a respiratory rate of 34 breaths/min, blood pressure of 148/88 mm Hg, and an oxygen saturation of 84% on room air. An arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis indicates a pH of 7.53, PaCO2 of 27 mm Hg, HCO3 of 23 mEq/L, and PaO2 of 52 mm Hg. Which intervention is the priority for the nurse to implement?
- Apply a non-rebreather oxygen mask at 15 L/min.Cevap
- BCoach the client to take slow, deep breaths to lower the respiratory rate.
- CAdminister the prescribed intravenous morphine sulfate to manage the client's agitation.
- DNotify the imaging department to prepare the client for a STAT pulmonary angiogram.
Cevap
Apply a non-rebreather oxygen mask at 15 L/min.
The correct answer directly addresses the most immediate threat to the client's life: severe hypoxemia (PaO2 of 52 mm Hg). The client's restlessness, confusion, and rapid breathing are compensatory mechanisms for this profound lack of oxygen, likely resulting from a fat embolism or pulmonary embolism after the femur fracture. Based on the ABC (Airway, Breathing, Circulation) framework, restoring oxygenation with high-flow supplemental oxygen is the absolute highest priority.
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Prioritizing oxygenation in acute hypoxemic respiratory failure