Spinal Cord Injury NCLEX {Questions With 100% Correct Answers} (2024 / 2025)(Verified by Experts)
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Course
RN- Nursing
Institution
RN- Nursing
A patient with a spinal cord injury at the T1 level complains of a severe headache and an "anxious feeling." Which is the most appropriate initial reaction by the nurse?
1. Try to calm the patient and make the environment soothing.
2. Assess for a full bladder.
3. Notify the healthcare provider....
a patient with a spinal cord injury at the t1 level complains of a severe headache and an anxious feeling which is the most appropriate initial reaction by
Spinal Cord Injury NCLEX Questions
A patient with a spinal cord injury at the T1 level complains of a severe headache and an "anxious feeling." Which is the most appropriate initial reaction by the nurse?
1. Try to calm the patient and make the environment soothing.
2. Assess for a full bladder.
3. Notify the healthcare provider.
4. Prepare the patient for diagnostic radiography.answer - Correct Answer: 2
Rationale: Autonomic dysreflexia occurs in patients with injury at level T6 or higher, and is a life-threatening situation that will require immediate intervention or the patient will die. The most common cause is an overextended bladder or bowel. Symptoms include hypertension, headache, diaphoresis, bradycardia, visual changes, anxiety, and nausea. A calm, soothing environment is fine, though not what the patient needs in this case. The nurse should recognize this as an emergency and proceed accordingly. Once
the assessment has been completed, the findings will need to be communicated to the healthcare provider.
A hospitalized patient with a C7 cord injury begins to yell "I can't feel my legs anymore." Which is the most appropriate action by the nurse?
1. Remind the patient of her injury and try to comfort her.
2. Call the healthcare provider and get an order for radiologic evaluation.
3. Prepare the patient for surgery, as her condition is worsening.
4. Explain to the patient that this could be a common, temporary problem.answer - Correct Answer: 4
Rationale: Spinal shock is a condition almost half the people with acute spinal injury experience. It is characterized by a temporary loss of reflex function below level of injury, and includes the following symptomatology: flaccid paralysis of skeletal muscles, loss of sensation below the injury, and possibly bowel and bladder dysfunction and loss of ability to perspire below the injury level. In this case, the nurse should explain to the patient what is happening.
The nurse is caring for a patient with increased intracranial pressure (IICP). The nurse realizes that some nursing actions are contraindicated with IICP. Which nursing action should be avoided?
1. Reposition the patient every two hours.
2. Position the patient with the head elevated 30 degrees.
3. Suction the airway every two hours per standing orders.
4. Provide continuous oxygen as ordered.answer - Correct Answer: 3
Rationale: Suctioning further increases intracranial pressure; therefore, suctioning should be done to maintain a patent airway but not as a matter of routine. Maintaining patient comfort by frequent repositioning as well as keeping the head elevated 30 degrees will help to prevent (or even reduce) IICP. Keeping the patient properly oxygenated may also help to control ICP.
A patient with a spinal cord injury (SCI) is admitted to the unit and placed in traction. Which of the following actions is the nurse responsible for when caring for this patient? Select all that apply.
1. modifying the traction weights as needed
2. assessing the patient's skin integrity
3. applying the traction upon admission
4. administering pain medication
5. providing passive range of motionanswer - Correct Answer: 2,4,5
Rationale: The healthcare provider is responsible for initial applying of the traction device. The weights on the traction device must not be changed without the order of a healthcare provider. When caring for a patient in traction, the nurse is responsible for assessment and care of the skin due to the increased risk of skin breakdown. The patient in traction is likely to experience pain and the nurse is responsible for assessing this pain and administering the appropriate analgesic as ordered. Passive range of motion helps prevent contractures; this is often performed by a physical therapist or a nurse.
A patient has manifestations of autonomic dysreflexia. Which of these assessments would indicate a possible cause for this condition?
Select all that apply.
1. hypertension
2. kinked catheter tubing
3. respiratory wheezes and stridor
4. diarrhea
5. fecal impactionanswer - Correct Answer: 2,5
Rationale: Autonomic dysreflexia can be caused by kinked catheter tubing allowing the bladder to become full, triggering massive vasoconstriction below the injury site, producing the manifestations of this process. Acute symptoms of autonomic dysreflexia,
including a sustained elevated blood pressure, may indicate fecal impaction. The other answers will not cause autonomic dysreflexia.
An unconscious patient receiving emergency care following an automobile crash accident has a possible spinal cord injury. What guidelines for emergency care will be followed?
Select all that apply.
1. Immobilize the neck using rolled towels or a cervical collar.
2. The patient will be placed in a supine position
3. The patient will be placed on a ventilator.
4. The head of the bed will be elevated.
5. The patient's head will be secured with a belt or tape secured to the stretcher.answer - Correct Answer: 1,2,5
Rationale: In the emergency setting, all patients who have sustained a trauma to the head or spine, or are unconscious should be treated as though they have a spinal cord injury. Immobilizing the neck, maintaining a supine position and securing the patient's head to prevent movement are all basic guidelines of emergency care. Placement on the ventilator and raising the head of the bed will be considered after admittance to the hospital. A patient with a spinal cord injury is recovering from spinal shock. The nurse realizes that the patient should not develop a full bladder because what emergency condition can occur if it is not corrected quickly?
1. autonomic dysreflexia
2. autonomic crisis
3. autonomic shutdown
4. autonomic failureanswer - Correct Answer: 1
Rationale: Be attuned to the prevention of a distended bladder when caring for spinal cord injury (SCI) patients in order to prevent this chain of events that lead to autonomic dysreflexia. Track urinary output carefully. Routine use of bladder scanning can help prevent the occurrence. Other causes of autonomic dysreflexia are impacted stool and skin pressure. Autonomic crisis, autonomic shutdown, and autonomic failure are not terms used to describe common complications of spinal injury associated with bladder distension.
Which patient is at highest risk for a spinal cord injury?
1. 18-year-old male with a prior arrest for driving while intoxicated (DWI)
2. 20-year-old female with a history of substance abuse
3. 50-year-old female with osteoporosis
4. 35-year-old male who coaches a soccer teamanswer - Correct Answer: 1
Rationale: The three major risk factors for spinal cord injuries (SCI) are age (young adults), gender (higher incidence in males), and alcohol or drug abuse. Females tend to
engage in less risk-taking behavior than young men.
The nurse understands that when the spinal cord is injured, ischemia results and edema
occurs. How should the nurse explain to the patient the reason that the extent of injury cannot be determined for several days to a week?
1. "Tissue repair does not begin for 72 hours."
2. "The edema extends the level of injury for two cord segments above and below the affected level."
3. "Neurons need time to regenerate so stating the injury early is not predictive of how the patient progresses."
4. "Necrosis of gray and white matter does not occur until days after the injury."answer -
Correct Answer: 2
Rationale: Within 24 hours necrosis of both gray and white matter begins if ischemia has been prolonged and the function of nerves passing through the injured area is lost. Because the edema extends above and below the area affected, the extent of injury cannot be determined until after the edema is controlled. Neurons do not regenerate, and the edema is the factor that limits the ability to predict extent of injury.
A patient with a spinal cord injury (SCI) has complete paralysis of the upper extremities and complete paralysis of the lower part of the body. The nurse should use which medical term to adequately describe this in documentation?
1. hemiplegia
2. paresthesia
3. paraplegia
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