Assessing Thorax & Lungs

1.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

Under normal circumstances, what is the strongest stimulus to breathe?

hypercapnia

hypoxemia

consolidation

dyspnea

2.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

The nurse is preparing to auscultate a client's lungs after completing thoracic inspection, palpation, and percussion. How should the nurse best prepare for this assessment technique?

Keep the client's shirt or gown in place to maintain privacy.

Begin with the bell of the stethoscope on the client's anterior chest.

Tell the client that you will be asking them to breathe as quickly and deeply as possible.

Place the diaphragm on the client's posterior chest wall.

3.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

The nurse's auscultation of a client's lung fields reveals the presence of a wheeze. The nurse should recognize that this adventitious sound results from what pathophysiologic process?

Air leaking from the alveoli into the pleural space

Air being diverted from the trachea to the bronchi

Air increasing in turbulence in a wide passage

Air passing through constricted passageways

4.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

The nurse is assessing a client's respiratory rate and rhythm during the beginning of a shift. The client's rate is 29 breaths/min. How should the nurse respond to this assessment finding?

Ask the client if she has recently exerted herself.

Report the finding to the client's primary care provider.

Ask the client if she has smoked recently.

Palpate the client's anterior and posterior thorax.

5.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

While assessing the health of a client's respiratory system, the nurse is palpating for fremitus. What instruction should the nurse provide to the client during this component of assessment?

When I say so, please exhale forcefully and hold the breath.

Say the letter e and keep saying it until I tell you to stop.

Breathe in as deeply as you can and hold your breath until I say to stop.

Please say the number ninety-nine for me.

6.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

The nurse is performing a respiratory assessment of a client who is receiving palliative care only due to severe, uncompensated heart failure. What type of respiratory pattern should the nurse anticipate?

Biot

CheyneStoke

Bradypnea

Kussmaul

7.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

The nurse assesses chest expansion in a 30-year-old man and finds it to be 8 cm. How would the nurse document this finding?

Limited expansion

Normal expansion

hypoexpansion

Hyperexpansion

8.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

The nurse is assessing a 69-year-old woman's risks for lung disease. The woman states, It shouldn't be a problem for me. My husband smokes quite heavily but I've been a lifelong nonsmoker. The nurse should recognize the need to teach the client about what topic?

Strategies for making her husband quit smoking

Genetic causes of lung cancer

Age-related changes to respiratory function

Health risks of secondhand smoke

9.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

The nurse is assessing a 79-year-old client's posterior thorax during a focused respiratory assessment. The nurse should attribute what assessment finding to age-related changes?

Slight kyphosis

Inaudible posterior lung sounds

Audible wheeze

Asymmetrical chest expansion

10.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

A nursing instructor is discussing cultural variations in the size of the thorax and impact on lung capacity. Which group would the instructor identify as typically having a larger thorax?

African Americans

Native Americans

Asian Americans

Caucasians

11.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

During a health-screening event, the nurse is assessing a client's risk factors for lung cancer. When addressing the most significant risk factor for lung cancer, the nurse should question the client about which of the following?

Childhood exposure to air pollution

History of tobacco use

History of working in a factory or smelter

History of recurrent lung infections

12.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

The nurse is preparing to perform a focused respiratory assessment on a client. The nurse should be cognizant of what anatomical characteristic of the lungs?

The right lung has three lobes, while the left lung has two lobes.

The lungs are structurally symmetrical but functionally different.

The right lung is approximately one third larger than the left lung.

The lower lobes of both lungs are primarily located toward the anterior chest wall.

13.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

During the health interview, a client tells the nurse that he can't breathe all that well at night when he is lying down and that this significantly disrupts his sleep. The nurse should assess this client further for what health problem?

Pneumonia

Tuberculosis

Heart failure

Bronchitis

14.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

The nurse is assessing a client who has been admitted for the treatment of severe dehydration. What would the nurse expect to hear when auscultating the lungs of this client?

Stridor

Friction Rub

Sibilant wheeze

Decreased breath sounds

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