A patient is warm and asks for a fan in her room for her comfort.The nurse enters the room to assess the mother and her infant and finds the infant unwrapped in his crib with the fan blowing over him on "high." The nurse instructs the mother that the fan should not be directed toward the newborn and the newborn should be wrapped in a blanket.The mother asks why.The nurse's best response is:
A) "Your baby may lose heat by convection, which means that he will lose heat from his body to the cooler ambient air. You should keep him wrapped and prevent cool air from blowing on him."
B) "Your baby may lose heat by conduction, which means that he will lose heat from his body to the cooler ambient air. You should keep him wrapped and prevent cool air from blowing on him."
C) "Your baby may lose heat by evaporation, which means that he will lose heat from his body to the cooler ambient air. You should keep him wrapped and prevent cool air from blowing on him."
D) "Your baby will get cold stressed easily and needs to be bundled up at all times."

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

"Your baby may lose heat by convection,which means that he will lose heat from his body to the cooler ambient air.You should keep him wrapped and prevent cool air from blowing on him" is an accurate statement.Conduction is the loss of heat from the body surface to cooler surfaces,not air,in direct contact with the newborn.Evaporation is loss of heat that occurs when a liquid is converted into a vapor.In the newborn heat loss by evaporation occurs as a result of vaporization of moisture from the skin.Cold stress may occur from excessive heat loss,but this does not imply that the infant will become stressed if not bundled at all times.Furthermore,excessive bundling may result in a rise in the infant's temperature.

A Patient Is Warm and Asks for a Fan in Her