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FUNDAMENTS CHAPTER 31

Terms in this set (20)

A nurse is removing sutures from the surgical wound of a client after an appendectomy and notices that the sutures are encrusted with blood and difficult to pull out. What would be the appropriate intervention in this situation?
Moisten sterile gauze with sterile saline to loosen crusts before removing sutures.


If sutures are crusted with dried blood or secretions, making them difficult to remove, the nurse should moisten sterile gauze with sterile saline and gently loosen crusts before removing sutures. (less)
Adequate blood flow to the skin is necessary for healthy, viable tissue. Adequate skin perfusion requires four factors. Which of the following is not one of these factors?
Local capillary pressure must be lower than external pressure.

Local capillary pressure must be higher than external pressure for adequate skin perfusion.
A nurse is cleaning the wound of a gunshot victim. Which is a recommended guideline for this procedure?
Clean the wound from the top to the bottom, and center to outside.

Using sterile technique, clean the wound from the top to the bottom, and from the center to the outside. Dry the area with a gauze sponge in the same manner and apply ointment and dressing. (less)
A client's pressure ulcer is superficial and presents clinically as an abrasion, blister, or shallow crater. How would the nurse document this pressure ulcer?
Stage II

A stage II pressure ulcer involves partial thickness loss of dermis and presents as a shallow, open ulcer. A stage II could present as a blister, abrasion, or shallow crater. A stage I pressure ulcer is a defined area of intact skin with nonblanchable redness of a localized area, usually over a bony prominence. Darkly pigmented skin may not have visible blanching; its color may differ from the surrounding skin. The area may be painful, firm, soft, warmer, or cooler as compared to adjacent tissue. A stage III ulcer presents with full-thickness tissue loss. Subcutaneous fat may be visible, but bone, tendon, or muscle is not exposed. Slough that may be present does not obscure the depth of tissue loss. Ulcers at this stage may include undermining and tunneling. Stage IV ulcers involve full-thickness tissue loss with exposed bone, tendon, or muscle. Slough or eschar may be present on some part of the wound bed and often include undermining and tunneling. (less)
A nurse is caring for a client with a chronic wound on the left buttock. The wound is 8.3 cm x 6.4 cm. Which action should the nurse use during wound care?
Cleanse with a new gauze for each stroke.

When cleansing a wound the nurse should use a new gauze or swab on each downward stroke using the cleansing agent. The wound should be cleaned from the inner to the outer portions of the wound. This keeps the wound from being contaminated with bacteria from outside the wound. The wound should be cleansed at least 1 inch (2.5 cm) beyond the end of the new dressing. Also, the wound should be cleansed in full or half circles beginning in the center and working toward the outside. (less)
A nurse bandages the knee of a client who has recently undergone a knee surgery. What is the major purpose of the roller bandage?
Supports the area around the wound

Bandages and binders are used to secure dressings, apply pressure, and support the wound. A roller bandage is a continuous strip of material wound on itself to form a cylinder or roll and is applied using a circular turn, spiral turn, or figure-of-eight turn. It is effective for use around joints, such as the knee, elbow, ankle, and wrist. (less)
The healthcare provider prescribes negative-pressure wound therapy for a client with a pressure ulcer. Before initiating the treatment, it is important for the nurse to implement which nursing assessment?
Assess the wound for active bleeding.

Negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) promotes wound healing and wound closure through the application of uniform negative pressure on the wound bed. NPWT is not considered for the use in the presence of active bleeding. The nurse needs to assess for the use of anticoagulants, not antihypertensives, because these can cause bleeding. Mental status and the presence of claustrophobia are not significant when initiating negative-pressure wound therapy. (less)
Which activity should the nurse implement to decrease shearing force on the client with a stage II pressure ulcer?
Support the client from sliding in bed.

Shearing force occurs when tissue layers move on each other, causing vessels to stretch as they pass through the subcutaneous tissue.
The nurse is taking care of a client on the second post-operative day who asks about wound dehiscence. Which response by the nurse is most accurate?
"Dehiscence is when a wound has partial or total separation of the wound layers."

Dehiscence is the partial or total separation of wound layers as a result of excessive stress on wounds that are not healed. Clients at greater risk for these complications include those who are obese or malnourished, smoke tobacco, use anticoagulants, have infected wounds, or experience excessive coughing, vomiting, or straining. An increase in the flow of fluid from the wound between postoperative days 4 and 5 may be a sign of an impending dehiscence. The client may say that "something has suddenly given way." If dehiscence occurs, cover the wound area with sterile towels moistened with sterile 0.9% sodium chloride solution and notify the physician. Once dehiscence occurs, the wound is managed like any open wound. (less)
A pediatric nurse is familiar with specific characteristics of children's skin. Which statement describes the common skin characteristics in a child?
An infant's skin and mucous membranes are easily injured and at risk for infection.

An infant's skin and mucous membranes are easily injured and at risk for infection. In children younger than 2 years, the skin is thinner and weaker than in adults. The structure of the skin changes as a person ages. A child's skin becomes more resistant to injury and infection as the child grows. (less)
A Penrose drain typically exits a client's skin through a stab wound created by the surgeon.
True

A Penrose drain is an open drainage system that exits the skin through a stab wound. The purpose a Penrose drain is to provide a sinus tract.
A medical-surgical nurse is assisting a wound care nurse with the debridement of a client's coccyx wound. What is the primary goal of this action?
Removing dead or infected tissue to promote wound healing

Debridement is the act of removing debris and devitalized tissue in order to promote healing and reduce the risk of infection. Debridement does not directly stimulate the wound bed, and the goal is neither assessment nor the prevention of maceration. (less)
A nurse assessing the wound healing of a client documents that the wound formed a clean, straight line with little loss of tissue. This wound healed by:
primary intention.

Wounds healing by primary intention form a clean, straight line with little loss of tissue. Wounds healing by secondary intention are large wounds with considerable tissue loss. The edges are not approximated. Healing occurs by formation of granulation tissue. Wounds healing by delayed primary intention or tertiary intention are left open for several days to allow edema or infection to resolve or exudates to drain. They are then closed. Dehiscence is wound separation, not wound healing. (less)
The nurse is preparing to measure the depth of a client's tunneled wound. Which implement should the nurse use to measure the depth accurately?
a sterile, flexible applicator moistened with saline

A sterile, flexible applicator is the safest implement to use. The other implements are too large, inflexible, or not sterile.
An older adult client has been admitted to the hospital with dehydration, and the nurse has inserted a peripheral intravenous line into the client's forearm in order to facilitate rehydration. What type of dressing should the nurse apply over the client's venous access site?
a transparent film

Transparent film dressings are semipermeable, waterproof, and adhesive, allowing for visualization of the access site to aid assessment, as well as protecting the site from microorganisms. Gauze dressings do not allow the nurse to visualize the site without partially or completely removing the dressing. (less)
The nurse considers the impact of shearing forces in the development of pressure ulcers in clients. Which client would be most likely to develop a pressure ulcer from shearing forces?
a client sitting in a chair who slides down

Shear results when one layer of tissue slides over another layer. Shear separates the skin from underlying tissues. The small blood vessels and capillaries in the area are stretched and possibly tear, resulting in decreased circulation to the tissue cells under the skin. Clients who are pulled, rather than lifted, when being moved up in bed (or from bed to chair or stretcher) are at risk for injury from shearing forces. A client who is partially sitting up in bed is susceptible to shearing force when the skin sticks to the sheet and underlying tissues move downward with the body toward the foot of the bed. This may also occur in a client who sits in a chair but slides down. The client that is most likely to develop a pressure ulcer from shearing forces would be a client sitting in a chair who slides down. (less)
The nurse is caring for a client in the emergency department who cut herself 15 minutes ago while preparing dinner at her home. The nurse understands the client's wound is in which phase of wound healing?
Hemostasis phase

Hemostasis is the initial phase after an injury. Hemostasis stimulates other cells to come to the wound to begin with other phases of wound healing. The inflammatory phase follows hemostasis; white blood cells move into the wound to remove debris and to release growth factors. The proliferation phase is the regenerative phase in which granulation tissue is formed. The maturation phase involves collagen remodeling. (less)
A nurse caring for a client who has a surgical wound following a cesarean section notes dehiscence of the wound and contacts the surgeon. Which is a finding related to this condition?
There is an unintentional separation of the wound.

With dehiscence, there is an unintentional separation of wound edges, especially in a surgical wound. In approximated wound edges, the edges of a wound are lightly pulled together. Edema is an accumulation of fluid in the interstitial tissue. Redness or inflammation of an area as a result of dilation is erythema. (less)
A nurse is measuring the wound of a stab victim by moistening a sterile, flexible applicator with saline, then inserting it gently into the wound at a 90-degree angle. The nurse then marks the point where the applicator is even with the skin, removes the applicator and measures with a ruler. What wound measurement is determined by this method?
Depth

When measuring the depth of a wound, the nurse moistens a sterile, flexible applicator with saline and inserts it gently into the wound at a 90-degree angle, with the tip down. The nurse then marks the point on the swab that is even with the surrounding skin surface, or grasps the applicator with the thumb and forefinger at the point corresponding to the wound's margin. Finally, the nurse removes the swab and measures the depth with a ruler. (less)
The nurse is assessing the wounds of clients in a burn unit. Which wound would most likely heal by primary intention?
a surgical incision with sutured approximated edges

Wounds healed by primary intention are well approximated (skin edges tightly together). Intentional wounds with minimal tissue loss, such as those made by a surgical incision with sutured approximated edges, usually heal by primary intention. Wounds healed by secondary intention have edges that are not well approximated. Large, open wounds, such as from burns or major trauma, which require more tissue replacement and are often contaminated, commonly heal by secondary intention. If a wound that is healing by primary intention becomes infected, it will heal by secondary intention. Wounds that heal by secondary intention take longer to heal and form more scar tissue. Connective tissue healing and repair follow the same phases in healing. However, differences occur in the length of time required for each phase and in the extent of new tissue formed. Wounds healed by tertiary intention, or delayed primary closure, are those wounds left open for several days to allow edema or infection to resolve or fluid to drain, and then are closed. (less)
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