To verify the correct placement of an endotracheal tube (ET) after insertion, the best initial action by the nurse is to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A.
auscultate for the presence of bilateral breath sounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
B.
Use an end-tidal C02 monitor to check for placement in the trachea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
C.
Observe the chest for symmetrical movement with ventilation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
D.
Obtain a portable chest radiograph to check tube placement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The correct answer and Explanation is :<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n The best initial action by the nurse to verify the correct placement of an endotracheal tube (ET) after insertion is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n B. Use an end-tidal CO2 monitor to check for placement in the trachea.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n End-tidal CO2 Monitoring:<\/strong> Auscultation for Breath Sounds:<\/strong> Observing Chest Movement:<\/strong> Chest Radiograph:<\/strong> In summary, end-tidal CO2 monitoring<\/strong> is the most immediate and practical method to ensure that the ET tube is correctly placed in the trachea, making it the best initial action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To verify the correct placement of an endotracheal tube (ET) after insertion, the best initial action by the nurse is to: A.auscultate for the presence of bilateral breath sounds. B.Use an end-tidal C02 monitor to check for placement in the trachea. C.Observe the chest for symmetrical movement with ventilation. D.Obtain a portable chest radiograph to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-137672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137672\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Explanation:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
End-tidal CO2 monitoring is a crucial and immediate method for confirming the placement of an endotracheal tube. This technique measures the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in exhaled air. The presence of CO2 in the exhaled breath indicates that the tube is in the trachea and not in the esophagus. This is because the trachea leads to the lungs where gas exchange occurs, and thus CO2 is present in the exhaled breath. In contrast, if the tube were in the esophagus, CO2 would not be detected since the esophagus does not conduct gas exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While auscultation for bilateral breath sounds is important, it is not the most reliable initial method for confirming ET tube placement. Bilateral breath sounds can sometimes be heard even if the tube is not properly positioned, especially if it is in the mainstem bronchus or partially obstructed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Observation of symmetrical chest movement can be a useful follow-up assessment, but it is less reliable than CO2 monitoring. Asymmetrical chest movement might not immediately indicate a problem if the tube is slightly misplaced but still providing some ventilation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obtaining a portable chest radiograph is a definitive method for confirming tube placement and assessing its depth and positioning. However, it is not the best initial action due to the time required to obtain the X-ray and the delay in immediate assessment compared to CO2 monitoring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n