When assessing a patient who has just arrived after an automobile accident,the emergency department nurse notes tachycardia and absent breath sounds over the right lung. For which intervention will the nurse prepare the patient?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The patient's history and absent breath sounds suggest a right-sided pneumothorax or hemothorax,which will require treatment with a chest tube and drainage to suction. The other therapies would be appropriate for an acute asthma attack,flail chest,or cardiac tamponade,but the patient's clinical manifestations are not consistent with these problems.

When Assessing a Patient Who Has Just Arrived After an Automobile