Drexel NURS 548 Exam UPDATED
ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS
A number of systemic insults can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Which patient
characteristic puts any given patient at a markedly high risk for developing ARDS?
A- Cigarette smoking
B- Alcoholism
C- Restrictive disease
D- Obstructive disease - CORRECT ANSWER B- Alcoholism
Restrictive lung diseases are characterized by a decrease in tissue:
A- Compliance
B- Recoil
C- Pressure
D- Volume - CORRECT ANSWER A- Compliance
Reduced compliance is the characteristic that requires a greater change in pressure to get air in.
All of the following are pathologic responses in the patient having an acute asthma exacerbation
except:
A- Vasodilation
B- Smooth muscle relaxation
C- Endothelial leakage
D- Mucus hypersecretion - CORRECT ANSWER B- Smooth muscle relaxation
Surfactant is necessary to respiration because it:
A- Signals maturation of pulmonary gas exchange spaces
B- Facilitates gas exchange consistent with the concentration gradient
C- Protects against osmotic movement of fluid into alveoli
D- Displaces water from the air/liquid interface - CORRECT ANSWER D- Displaces water
from the air/liquid interface
, Surfactant is a hydrophobic phospholipid that displaces water from the air/liquid interface.
The intrinsic property in lung tissue that relates a change in volume to a change in pressure is known
as:
A- Compliance
B- Recoil
C- Functional residual capacity
D- VQ - CORRECT ANSWER A- Compliance
Obstructive pulmonary diseases, such as asthma and COPD, lead to an increase in resistance to
airflow. This will typically produce which of the following abnormalities on spirometric assessment?
A- Decreased RV
B- Decreased FRC
C- Decreased FEV1
D- Increased FVC - CORRECT ANSWER C- Decreased FEV1
Obstruction to airflow causes difficulty getting air out; decreased FEV1 is often one of the first
indicators of this.
The terminal respiratory unites are the smallest diameter structures of the airway and yet offer no
resistance to airflow. Why is this?
A- Because it is closest in proximity to diaphragm
B- Because by the time air reaches them there is no driving pressure
C- Because they offer a very large cross sectional area
D- Because they do not have the ability to constrict - CORRECT ANSWER C- Because they
offer a very large cross sectional area
There are millions of alveoli and collectively the cross sectional area is so large that there is no
meaningful resistance to flow. There is no driving pressure, but that's not why there is no resistance.
Similarity, there is no ability to constrict, but that is not why there is no resistance either. Proximity to
diaphragm is not relevant.
When a patient is upright, there is a linear increase in flow from blood flow from apex to base due to:
A- Gravity
B- Resistance
ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS
A number of systemic insults can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome. Which patient
characteristic puts any given patient at a markedly high risk for developing ARDS?
A- Cigarette smoking
B- Alcoholism
C- Restrictive disease
D- Obstructive disease - CORRECT ANSWER B- Alcoholism
Restrictive lung diseases are characterized by a decrease in tissue:
A- Compliance
B- Recoil
C- Pressure
D- Volume - CORRECT ANSWER A- Compliance
Reduced compliance is the characteristic that requires a greater change in pressure to get air in.
All of the following are pathologic responses in the patient having an acute asthma exacerbation
except:
A- Vasodilation
B- Smooth muscle relaxation
C- Endothelial leakage
D- Mucus hypersecretion - CORRECT ANSWER B- Smooth muscle relaxation
Surfactant is necessary to respiration because it:
A- Signals maturation of pulmonary gas exchange spaces
B- Facilitates gas exchange consistent with the concentration gradient
C- Protects against osmotic movement of fluid into alveoli
D- Displaces water from the air/liquid interface - CORRECT ANSWER D- Displaces water
from the air/liquid interface
, Surfactant is a hydrophobic phospholipid that displaces water from the air/liquid interface.
The intrinsic property in lung tissue that relates a change in volume to a change in pressure is known
as:
A- Compliance
B- Recoil
C- Functional residual capacity
D- VQ - CORRECT ANSWER A- Compliance
Obstructive pulmonary diseases, such as asthma and COPD, lead to an increase in resistance to
airflow. This will typically produce which of the following abnormalities on spirometric assessment?
A- Decreased RV
B- Decreased FRC
C- Decreased FEV1
D- Increased FVC - CORRECT ANSWER C- Decreased FEV1
Obstruction to airflow causes difficulty getting air out; decreased FEV1 is often one of the first
indicators of this.
The terminal respiratory unites are the smallest diameter structures of the airway and yet offer no
resistance to airflow. Why is this?
A- Because it is closest in proximity to diaphragm
B- Because by the time air reaches them there is no driving pressure
C- Because they offer a very large cross sectional area
D- Because they do not have the ability to constrict - CORRECT ANSWER C- Because they
offer a very large cross sectional area
There are millions of alveoli and collectively the cross sectional area is so large that there is no
meaningful resistance to flow. There is no driving pressure, but that's not why there is no resistance.
Similarity, there is no ability to constrict, but that is not why there is no resistance either. Proximity to
diaphragm is not relevant.
When a patient is upright, there is a linear increase in flow from blood flow from apex to base due to:
A- Gravity
B- Resistance
