{"id":142522,"date":"2024-09-22T06:38:33","date_gmt":"2024-09-22T06:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnexams.com\/blog\/?p=142522"},"modified":"2024-09-22T06:38:35","modified_gmt":"2024-09-22T06:38:35","slug":"a-nurse-in-the-emergency-department-is-monitoring-a-client-who-has-a-cervical-spinal-cord-injury-from-a-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/22\/a-nurse-in-the-emergency-department-is-monitoring-a-client-who-has-a-cervical-spinal-cord-injury-from-a-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"A nurse in the emergency department is monitoring a client who has a cervical spinal cord injury from a fall."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A nurse in the emergency department is monitoring a client who has a cervical spinal cord injury from a fall. The nurse should monitor the client for which of the following complications? (Select all that apply.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A.<br>Weakened gag re\ufb02ex<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>B.<br>Hyperthermia<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>C.<br>Absence of bowel sounds<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>D.<br>Paralysis<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>E.<br>Polyuria<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>F.<br>Hypotension<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-ast-global-color-1-color\">The Correct answer and Explanation is:<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the case of a client with a cervical spinal cord injury, the nurse should monitor for the following complications: <strong>A. Weakened gag reflex<\/strong>, <strong>D. Paralysis<\/strong>, and <strong>F. Hypotension<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Explanation:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Weakened Gag Reflex (A)<\/strong>: Cervical spinal cord injuries can affect the cranial nerves that control the gag reflex, specifically the vagus nerve (cranial nerve X) and the glossopharyngeal nerve (cranial nerve IX). A weakened gag reflex can increase the risk of aspiration, which can lead to pneumonia and other complications.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Paralysis (D)<\/strong>: A cervical spinal cord injury typically results in paralysis below the level of the injury. Depending on the severity and exact location of the injury, the client may experience quadriplegia (paralysis of all four limbs) or varying degrees of limb weakness. The extent of paralysis is critical for determining the level of care and rehabilitation the patient will require.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Hypotension (F)<\/strong>: Autonomic dysreflexia is a potential complication of spinal cord injuries, especially in injuries above T6. This condition can cause a sudden drop in blood pressure, leading to hypotension. Furthermore, spinal shock may occur shortly after the injury, contributing to hypotensive episodes. Close monitoring of blood pressure is essential.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Notable Exclusions:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Hyperthermia (B)<\/strong>: This is generally not a direct complication of cervical spinal cord injury. While patients may have issues regulating body temperature due to autonomic dysfunction, hyperthermia specifically may arise from other conditions or external factors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Absence of Bowel Sounds (C)<\/strong>: While bowel motility can be affected, the absence of bowel sounds is not a direct complication of cervical spinal cord injury itself but rather an indicator of gastrointestinal activity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Polyuria (E)<\/strong>: This condition is not typically associated with cervical spinal cord injuries. Patients may experience urinary retention due to bladder dysfunction instead.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, monitoring for these complications is crucial in the emergency setting to provide timely interventions and improve outcomes for clients with cervical spinal cord injuries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A nurse in the emergency department is monitoring a client who has a cervical spinal cord injury from a fall. The nurse should monitor the client for which of the following complications? (Select all that apply.) A.Weakened gag re\ufb02ex B.Hyperthermia C.Absence of bowel sounds D.Paralysis E.Polyuria F.Hypotension The Correct answer and Explanation is: In the [&hellip;]<\/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-142522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-exams-certification"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142522","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=142522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142522\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learnexams.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}