Practice Question
A nurse auscultates a client's lung sounds and identifies crackles in the left lower lobe. Which of the following interventions should the nurse take?
Answer Choices:
Correct Answer:
Repeat auscultation after asking the client to breathe deeply and cough.
Rationale:
🔹 Crackles may clear with deep breathing or coughing if due to secretions in the airways rather than fluid from pathology like pulmonary edema.
🔹 This approach is non-invasive and diagnostic, helping the nurse determine if the abnormal sound is transient or pathological.
🔹 Auscultating again after a cough can differentiate between fine crackles (which might remain) and coarse crackles (which often clear).
🔹 It allows the nurse to avoid unnecessary treatment like antibiotics unless there's clinical evidence of infection.
🔹 This is part of basic respiratory assessment before escalation.
Want to practice more questions like this?
This question is from RN ATI Mental Health Quiz which contains 34 questions.
More Questions from This Exam
The nurse is working with an adolescent client that is argumentative with staff and peers on the behavioral health unit. Which therapeutic response will be most beneficial for the client to decrease acting out behavior?
Answer Choices:
A client with depression is found to have attempted suicide in the bathroom and sustained injury. There is no documentation that the client was assessed every hour as prescribed. Which issue will the nursing staff and hospital potentially have to defend against?
Answer Choices:
After an Angry outburst, a client quickly appears calmer and receptive to input from the nurse. Which is the most helpful response to the client at this time?
Answer Choices:
The health care provider prescribes haloperidol 10 mg for a client with severe psychosis but the client refuses the medication. Which nursing action is appropriate?
Answer Choices:
Question Details
- Category: RN Nursing Exam(s)
- Subcategory: ATI Exam(s)
- Domain: RN ATI Mental Health
- Answer Choices: 4