Practice Question
A nurse observes that decerebrate posturing is a comatose client's response to painful stimuli. Decerebrate posturing as a response to pain indicates:
Answer Choices:
Correct Answer:
Dysfunction in the brain stem.
Rationale:
🔷 Decerebrate posturing (extension of arms/legs, pronation) reflects brain stem injury below the red nucleus.
🔷 Loss of inhibitory cortical input lets extensor tone dominate via vestibulospinal tracts.
🔷 Often linked to herniation, pontine injury, or severe metabolic insult affecting the brain stem.
🔷 Compared with decorticate, decerebrate signals worse prognosis because of lower‑level involvement.
🔷 Immediate focus is on airway, ventilation, and ICP control due to risk of deterioration.
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This question is from RN Med surg-Lippincott which contains 61 questions.
More Questions from This Exam
A client in the emergency department has a suspected neurologic disorder. To assess gait, the nurse asks the client to take a few steps; with each step, the client's feet make a half circle. To document the client's gait, the nurse should use which term?
Answer Choices:
A. Ataxic.
B. Dystrophic.
C. Steppage.
D. Helicopod.
The nurse documenting an acute open wound should include which characteristics? Select all that apply.
Answer Choices:
A. Wound size.
B. Wound bed.
C. Peri wound skin.
D. Pattern of eruption.
Which term describes the fibrous connective tissues that cover the brain and spinal cord?
Answer Choices:
A. Dura mater.
B. Meninges.
C. Pia mater.
D. Arachnoid mater.
Which cranial nerve is responsible for muscles that move the eye and lids?
Answer Choices:
A. Oculomotor.
B. Vestibulocochlear.
C. Facial.
D. Trigeminal.
The critical care nurse is giving end-of-shift report on a client. The nurse uses the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) to assess the level of consciousness (LOC) of a female client and reports to the oncoming nurse that the client has an LOC of 6. What does an LOC score of 6 in a client indicate?
Answer Choices:
A. Stupor.
B. Somnolence.
C. Normal.
D. Deep coma.
Question Details
- Category: RN Nursing Exam(s)
- Subcategory: General Exams
- Domain: Medical-surgical📚
- Answer Choices: 4
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