A medical patient rings her call bell and expresses alarm to the nurse, stating, Ive just coughed up this blood. That cant be good, can it? How can the nurse best determine whether the source of the blood was the patients lungs?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Though not definitive, blood from the lung is usually bright red, frothy, and mixed with sputum. Testing the $\mathrm{pH}$ of nonarterial blood samples is not common practice and would not provide important data. Similarly, oral suctioning and swabbing the patients mouth would not reveal the source.

A Medical Patient Rings Her Call Bell and Expresses Alarm pH\mathrm{pH}pH

A Medical Patient Rings Her Call Bell and Expresses Alarm $\mathrm{pH}$