A Patient Who Had a C7 Spinal Cord Injury a Week

Multiple Choice

A patient who had a C7 spinal cord injury a week ago has a weak cough effort and audible rhonchi.The initial intervention by the nurse should be to

A) administer humidified oxygen by mask.
B) suction the patient's mouth and nasopharynx.
C) push upward on the epigastric area as the patient coughs.
D) encourage incentive spirometry every 2 hours during the day.