Lewis's Medical Surgical Nursing 11th Edition Harding Test Bank

A 26-yr-old female who has type 1 diabetes develops a sore throat and runny nose after caring for her sick toddler. The patient calls the clinic for advice about her symptoms and reports a blood glucose level of 210 mg/dL despite taking her usual glargine (Lantus) and lispro (Humalog) insulin. What should the nurse advise the patient to do? a. Use only the lispro insulin until the symptoms are resolved. b. Limit intake of calories until the glucose is less than 120 mg/dL. c. Monitor blood glucose every 4 hours and contact the clinic if it rises. d. Decrease carbohydrates until glycosylated hemoglobin is less than 7%. - ANS: C Infection and other stressors increase blood glucose levels and the patient will need to test blood glucose frequently, treat elevations appropriately with lispro insulin, and call the health care provider if glucose levels continue to be elevated. Discontinuing the glargine will contribute to hyperglycemia and may lead to diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Decreasing carbohydrate or caloric intake is not appropriate because the patient will need more calories when ill. Glycosylated hemoglobin testing is not used to evaluate short-term alterations in blood glucose. DIF: Cognitive Level: Apply (application) TOP: Nursing Process: Implementation MSC: NCLEX: Physiological Integrity A 27-yr-old patient admitted with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) has a serum glucose level of 732 mg/dL and serum potassium level of 3.1 mEq/L. Which action prescribed by the health care provider should the nurse take first? a. Place the patient on a cardiac monitor. b. Administer IV potassium supplements. c. Ask the patient about home insulin doses. d. Start an insulin infusion at 0.1 units/kg/hr. - ANS: A Hypokalemia can lead to potentially fatal dysrhythmias such as ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation, which would be detected with electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring. Because potassium must be infused over at least 1 hour, the nurse should initiate cardiac monitoring before infusion of potassium. Insulin should not be administered without cardia