The patient who recently immigrated to the United States from Bangladesh presents to the emergency department with cough with bloody sputum and fever. A chest x-ray shows patchy infiltrates in the upper right lobe. Which action does the nurse take first?

Don an N95 respirator. The patient’s symptoms and chest x-ray are consistent with tuberculosis. Even though diagnosis has not been confirmed, the nurse should don an N95 respirator prior to any further contact with the patient. Once the nurse is protected and the patient is placed in an isolation room, the nurse should obtain sputum cultures, blood cultures, and HIV serology. A CT scan can also be helpful in determining the severity of the patient’s disease.

The patient who recently immigrated to the United States from Ban...

Category: Safety and Infection Control
Difficulty: 5

Topics: Radiology Respiratory

Want help? View the answer with rationale.

Additional Safety and Infection Control Questions

The nurse asks a patient to provide a urine sample for a urine culture. When the nurse returns 3 hours later, the patient says the urine sample has been sitting by the bed for the last 2 hours. Which action by the nurse is appropriate?

Question Type: Multiple Choice - Select One
Difficulty: 6

The patient’s wound is producing copious amounts of exudate and the gauze dressing is saturated within two hours of placement. Which intervention does the nurse perform?

Question Type: Multiple Choice - Select One
Difficulty: 6

The novice nurse is transferring a patient from the floor to the intensive care unit. Which statement, if made by the novice nurse, indicates a need for further teaching about SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) communication?

Question Type: Multiple Choice - Select One
Difficulty: 7

Show Calculator

Want help? View the answer with rationale.

Rationale

Additional Safety and Infection Control Questions

Nursing Careers

Nursing Degrees

NCLEX