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?

Which lab result is expected in the patient with acute disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC)?

A patient with heart failure is unable to walk from the kitchen to the bedroom without becoming dyspneic. However, the dyspnea resolves with rest. The nurse recognizes this patient has which class of heart failure according to the New York Heart Association classification system?