Exam 22: Neurologic Clinical Assessment and Diagnostic Procedures

The patient's intracranial pressure (ICP)reading has gradually climbed from 15 to 23 mm Hg.The nurse's primary action is to:

Which statements are correct regarding the assessment of motor function in the neurologically impaired patient?

Which procedure is the diagnostic study of choice for acute head injury?

The nurse is caring for a severely head injured comatose patient who is dying.The practitioner asks to be notified when the patient starts to exhibit signs of Cushing reflex.The nurse would call the practitioner when the patient starts to show what signs?

The nurse is caring for a patient who has sustained a traumatic head injury.The practitioner has asked the nurse to test the patient's oculocephalic reflex.What must the nurse verity prior to performing the test?

The nursing is caring for a comatose patient with a brain tumor.When the nurse touches the palm of the patient's hand,the patient grasps the nurse's hand.What is this sign indicative of?

The nurse is caring for a severely head injured comatose patient who is dying.The nurse knows the patient has entered the late stages of intracranial hypertension when the nurse observes which signs?

Which patient may need sedation before having a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)scan?

The nurse is precepting a nursing student.The student asks about testing of extraocular eye movements.What should the nurse tell the student?

A patient is admitted to the critical care unit with a subdural hematoma.The nurse is assessing the patient's Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)score.When assessing the patient's best motor response,which movement would receive the lowest score?

A critical care patient is diagnosed with massive head trauma.The patient is receiving brain tissue oxygen pressure (PbtO₂)monitoring.The nurse recognized that the goal of this treatment is to maintain PbtO₂:

The nurse is caring for a patient with an intracranial pressure-monitoring device that provides access to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)for sampling.What type of device does the patient have?

The practitioner has ordered a carotid Doppler study for a patient.The patient asks the nurse what the test is for.How should the nurse respond?

The nurse is precepting a new graduate nurse.The new graduate asks about the difference between electroencephalography and evoked potentials.What should the nurse tell the new graduate?

A patient is being prepared for a neurologic work-up.The practitioner is getting ready to perform a lumbar puncture.What is the best position for the nurse to place the patient in for the procedure?

A patient is admitted to the critical care unit with a subdural hematoma.The nurse is assessing the patient's Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS)score.Which statement is true concerning the GCS?

The patient is ordered a computed tomography (CT)scan with contrast.Which question should the nurse ask the conscious patient before the procedure?

The nurse is caring for a patient with a head injury who is obtunded.The nurse is going to use noxious stimuli to elicit a response.What is an acceptable method?

Which nuclear medicine study should the nurse anticipate a practitioner's order for in a patient who is being evaluated for a brain tumor?

The nurse knows that change in pupil size is a significant neurologic finding particularly in the patient with a head injury.How much of a size difference between the two pupils is still considered normal?