Complete Solutions
1. A hospital responds to a local mass casualty event. Which
action should the nurse supervisor take to prevent staff post-
traumatic stress disorder during a mass casualty event?
a. Provide water and healthy snacks for energy throughout the
event.
b. Schedule 16-hour shifts to allow for greater rest between
shifts.
c. Encourage counseling upon deactivation of the emergency
response plan.
d. Assign staff to different roles and units within the medical
facility. Correct Answers ANS: A
To prevent staff post-traumatic stress disorder during a mass
casualty event, the nurses should use available counseling,
encourage and support co-workers, monitor each other's stress
level and performance, take breaks when needed, talk about
feelings with staff and managers, and drink plenty of water and
eat healthy snacks for energy. Nurses should also keep in touch
with family, friends, and significant others, and not work for
more than 12 hours per day. Encouraging counseling upon
deactivation of the plan, or after the emergency response is over,
does not prevent stress during the casualty event. Assigning staff
to unfamiliar roles or units may increase situational stress and is
not an approach to prevent post-traumatic stress disorder.
1. A nurse is teaching a wilderness survival class. Which
statements should the nurse include about the prevention of
hypothermia and frostbite? (Select all that apply.)
,a. "Wear synthetic clothing instead of cotton to keep your skin
dry."
b. "Drink plenty of fluids. Brandy can be used to keep your body
warm."
c. "Remove your hat when exercising to prevent the loss of
heat."
d. "Wear sunglasses to protect skin and eyes from harmful rays."
e. "Know your physical limits. Come in out of the cold when
limits are reached." Correct Answers ANS: A, D, E
To prevent hypothermia and frostbite, the nurse should teach
clients to wear synthetic clothing (which moves moisture away
from the body and dries quickly), layer clothing, and wear a hat,
facemask, sunscreen, and sunglasses. The client should also be
taught to drink plenty of fluids, but to avoid alcohol when
participating in winter activities. Clients should know their
physical limits and come in out of the cold when these limits
have been reached.
1. Emergency medical services (EMS) brings a large number of
clients to the emergency department following a mass casualty
incident. The nurse identifies the clients with which injuries with
yellow tags? (Select all that apply.)
a. Partial-thickness burns covering both legs
b. Open fractures of both legs with absent pedal pulses
c. Neck injury and numbness of both legs
d. Small pieces of shrapnel embedded in both eyes
e. Head injury and difficult to arouse
f. Bruising and pain in the right lower abdomen Correct
Answers ANS: A, C, D, F
Clients with burns, spine injuries, eye injuries, and stable
abdominal injuries should be treated within 30 minutes to 2
, hours, and therefore should be identified with yellow tags. The
client with the open fractures and the client with the head injury
would be classified as urgent with red tags.
1. On a hot humid day, an emergency department nurse is caring
for a client who is confused and has these vital signs:
temperature 104.1° F (40.1° C), pulse 132 beats/min,
respirations 26 breaths/min, blood pressure 106/66 mm Hg.
Which action should the nurse take?
a. Encourage the client to drink cool water or sports drinks.
b. Start an intravenous line and infuse 0.9% saline solution.
c. Administer acetaminophen (Tylenol) 650 mg orally.
d. Encourage rest and re-assess in 15 minutes. Correct Answers
ANS: B
The client demonstrates signs of heat stroke. This is a medical
emergency and priority care includes oxygen therapy, IV
infusion with 0.9% saline solution, insertion of a urinary
catheter, and aggressive interventions to cool the client,
including external cooling and internal cooling methods. Oral
hydration would not be appropriate for a client who has
symptoms of heat stroke because oral fluids would not provide
necessary rapid rehydration, and the confused client would be at
risk for aspiration. Acetaminophen would not decrease this
client's temperature or improve the client's symptoms. The client
needs immediate medical treatment; therefore, rest and re-
assessing in 15 minutes is inappropriate.
10. After a hospital's emergency department (ED) has efficiently
triaged, treated, and transferred clients from a community
disaster to appropriate units, the hospital incident command