Nursing Management Critical Care

1. A 68-year-old patient has been in the intensive care unit for 4 days and has a nursing diagnosis of disturbed sensory perception related to sleep deprivation. Which action should the nurse include in the plan of care? a. Administer prescribed sedatives or opioids at bedtime to promote sleep. b. Cluster nursing activities so that the patient has uninterrupted rest periods. c. Silence the alarms on the cardiac monitors to allow 30- to 40-minute naps. d. Eliminate assessments between 0100 and 0600 to allow uninterrupted sleep. ANS: B Clustering nursing activities and providing uninterrupted rest periods will minimize sleep-cycle disruption. Sedative and opioid medications tend to decrease the amount of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and can contribute to sleep disturbance and disturbed sensory perception. Silencing the alarms on the cardiac monitors would be unsafe in a critically ill patient, as would discontinuing assessments during the night. DIF: Cognitive Level: Apply (application) REF: 1601 TOP: Nursing Process: Planning MSC: NCLEX: Psychosocial Integrity 2. Which hemodynamic parameter is most appropriate for the nurse to monitor to determine the effectiveness of medications given to a patient to reduce left ventricular afterload? a. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) b. Systemic vascular resistance (SVR) c. Pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) d. Pulmonary artery wedge pressure (PAWP)