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Practice Question

A nurse is caring for a client admitted to the trauma medical unit.

Answer Choices:

Rationale:

👍The client is showing clinical signs consistent with fat embolism syndrome (FES), a serious complication of long bone fractures such as a femur fracture.

👍The findings of restlessness, irritability, and disorientation reflect neurologic changes caused by hypoxemia, as fat globules obstruct cerebral circulation.

👍The drop in oxygen saturation to 92% with new bilateral crackles indicates pulmonary involvement, where emboli and fluid impair alveolar gas exchange.

👍The fever of 38.3 °C (100.9 °F) represents a systemic inflammatory response triggered by fat emboli circulating in the bloodstream.

👍The presence of petechiae on the chest is the classic hallmark sign of FES, caused by dermal capillary occlusion.

👍Together, these symptoms form the classic triad of fat embolism syndrome—hypoxemia, neurologic changes, and petechiae— confirming this as the potential complication of the client’s injury.

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This question is from RN concept based assessment Level 2 with NGN -Retake 1(September 2025) which contains 135 questions.

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RN concept based assessment Level 2 with NGN -Retake 1(September 2025)

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Question Details
  • Category: RN Nursing Exam(s)
  • Subcategory: ATI Exam(s)
  • Domain: RN Concept-Based Assessment Level Exam(s)
  • Answer Choices: 1
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