One week following a total hysterectomy, a patient presents to the emergency department with a temperature of 104° F, heart rate 118, blood pressure 100/68 mmHg, new onset confusion and delirium, and flushed, warm skin. On assessment, the patient has positive bowel sounds, the patient’s abdomen is soft and non-tender, she has mild to moderate subcostal and intercostal retractions, and her breath sounds are clear and equal bilaterally. The nurse anticipates which diagnosis?

Following a motor vehicle accident, the patient is brought to the emergency department with concern for a brainstem injury. Which tests are performed to assess the integrity of this patient’s brainstem? Select all that apply.

Following an explosion at a factory, the patient is brought by ambulance to the emergency department. The patient has soot on the face and around the mouth and is coughing up black sputum. He verbalizes severe pain in his leg and his voice is noted to be a hoarse whisper. Further assessment reveals full thickness burns to the arms and hands and partial thickness burns to the legs. Shrapnel appears to have been embedded in the patient’s thigh. While moving the leg to assess the inner thigh, a piece of shrapnel shifts and the patient begins bleeding profusely from the wound. The patient cries out in pain and requests pain relief. Which action does the nurse take first?