Nursing Final Exam Blueprint

• The following notes are for a Final Exam Blueprint, excluding chapters 36 and 37.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

• Guides prioritizing care in nursing.

Nursing Responses

• Nurses should be mindful of how they respond to patients and their families.
• Therapeutic responses are examples of helpful communication.
• Non-therapeutic responses are examples of unhelpful communication.

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP)

• There are 6 levels of evidence.
• The highest quality level of evidence must be known.
• The lowest quality level of evidence must be known.

Human Trafficking

• Nurses must know the signs that would lead one to suspect human trafficking.

Transmission-Based Precautions

• Nurses must identify when to use different types of transmission-based precautions.

Neutropenic Precautions

• Nurses must know when to use neutropenic precautions and how to teach family and visitors about these precautions.

Obtaining Consent for Procedures

• Nurses must know their responsibility in ensuring consent for procedures.
• Nurses must know the factors that influence surgical outcomes.

Preoperative Instructions

• Nurses must provide teaching for postoperative exercises to decrease the risk of respiratory complications and deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
• Nurses must know the labs that are ordered preoperatively.

Atelectasis

• Surgical patients are at risk and and how to teach patient to avoid it
• Nurses must know the signs and symptoms.

NPO Status

• Patients with abdominal symptoms are kept NPO (nothing by mouth), and an IV line is started.

Abdominal Wound Healing

• Nurses must know the conditions that would result in complications for abdominal wound healing postoperatively.
• Nurses must know what to monitor on a surgical wound.
• Nurses must know what a dehisced wound looks like.

Venous Thromboembolism

• Nurses must know the risk factors, signs, and symptoms of venous thromboembolism.
• Nurses must know the interventions used to decrease risk.
• Walking benefits patients with a history of thromboembolism

Fluid Volume Deficit/Hypovolemia

• Nurses must know the causes, clinical presentation, and therapeutic management.
• Nurses must know what renal function labs would be monitored.

Intravenous Fluids (IVF)

• Nurses must know the types of IVF administered with hypovolemia.

IV Site Monitoring

• Nurses must know how to monitor an IV site and the signs of infiltration.
• Nurses must know what to do for infiltration.
• Nurses must know the complications of infiltrated IV catheters.
• Nurses must know what to monitor when an infiltration has occurred.

Erikson's Stages of Development

• Nurses must identify a patient's stage based on provided information.

Medication Information

• In addition to prescription medications, nurses must obtain information about other medications, including self-prescribed extracts and herbals.
• Nurses must ask about other issues with self-prescribed extracts and herbals.

Cardiovascular Changes in the Aging Patient

• Nurses must know the expected cardiovascular changes in the aging patient.

Heparin

• Heparin is a high-alert medication.
• Nurses must know why and what to do prior to administering heparin.
• Nurses must know what lab needs monitored when patient is on heparin.

Healthcare Settings

• Nurses must describe which patient would benefit from assisted living, long-term care, and home care.

Cardiac Valvular Disorders

• Nurses must know the difference between stenosis and regurgitation.
• Nurses must provide teaching after mechanical valve replacement.
• Nurses must know why a patient is prescribed coumadin and provide related teaching.

Post Cardiac Catheterization

• Nurses must know the priority nursing interventions and why for post cardiac catheterization.

Dietary Teaching

• Nurses must know dietary teaching to lower cholesterol levels.

Cardiovascular System Assessment

• Nurses must know the questions to ask when collecting data for the cardiovascular system.
• Nurses must know what would be objective findings to be performed.

Myocardial Infarction

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology, signs, symptoms, and therapeutic management.
• Nurses must provide patient teaching for myocardial infarction.

Labs for Myocardial Infarction

• Nurses must know what labs show a myocardial infarction.

Hospice Care

• Nurses must know the criteria for hospice care, what symptoms qualify a patient, the goal of hospice, and the difference between hospice and palliative care.

Clinical Signs of Death

• Nurses must know the clinical signs that a patient is nearing death and how to prepare the family.
• Nurses must define a "good death."

Dietary Teaching for Edema

• Nurses must know the dietary teaching and interventions to aid in decreasing lower extremity edema.

Angina

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology, signs, symptoms, and management/teaching related to nitro use.
• Nurses must know the action of nitro.

Cardiovascular Disease

• Nurses must know the modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors and complications of CV disease.

Diagnostics Related to Cardiovascular Disease

• Nurses must be able to explain what electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, cardiac catheterization, and troponin levels tell about patients' cardiac status to the patient and family.

Hypertension

• Nurses must explain to the patient how untreated hypertension causes damage to the heart.
• Nurses must know about hypertensive emergency, therapeutic management, and how caffeine and nicotine affect blood pressure readings.

Exercise and Hypertension

• Nurses must understand the role of exercise in the management of hypertension and provide patient teaching on the benefits and recommended regime.

Cardiac Tamponade

• Nurses must know what can cause cardiac tamponade, clinical signs, symptoms, and therapeutic management.

Pacemaker

• Nurses must know what it does and provide patient teaching after placement.
• Nurses must know what would indicate a problem with the pacemaker and what an EKG would look like if there was a problem.

Cardiac Transplant Patients

• Nurses must know the nursing monitoring post-op and the signs and symptoms of rejection.
• Nurses must provide teaching related to anti-rejection drugs.

Tuberculosis

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology, who is at risk, signs, and symptoms.
• Nurses must know how the Mantoux TB test is performed and what indicates positive results.
• Nurses must know what test is required to confirm an active diagnosis if the result is positive.

Sinusitis

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology, who is at risk, signs, and symptoms.
• Nurses must provide patient teaching on therapeutic management and non-pharmacological interventions to promote sinus drainage.

Epistaxis

• Nurses must know the risk factors, how to manage nose bleeding, and provide patient teaching.
• Nurses must provide teaching on therapeutic management and non-pharmacological interventions to reduce episodes.

Laryngectomy

• Nurses must know when a laryngectomy is performed and the priority assessment for the nurse to perform post-laryngectomy.

Dyspnea

• Nurses must know what objective and subjective findings for a patient experiencing dyspnea.
• Nurses must know the interventions that the nurse would implement and in what order.

Foley Catheter Care

• Nurses must know the management of catheterized patients and when a Foley catheter is indicated.
• Nurses must know why to be cautious about ordering catheters to be inserted and the risks.
• Nurses must know what to do to reduce the risk of infection when caring for a patient who has a Foley catheter.
• Nurses must ensure the aide knows about Foley care.

COPD

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology, risk factors, signs, symptoms, and therapeutic management.
• Nurses must teach patients about pursed-lip breathing and explain the rationale for this type of breathing.
• Nurses must know why these patients are prone to anxiety.
• Nurses must know why inappropriate oxygen therapy could cause respiratory depression.
• Nurses must provide patient teaching.

Increased Fluid Intake

• Nurses must know why to encourage increased fluid intake to aid in clearing thick secretions and provide patient teaching.

Nebulizer Treatments

• Nurses must know what nebulizer treatments do and why albuterol is used.
• What can be side effects of albuterol?

Cholecystitis

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology, signs, symptoms, therapeutic management, and provide patient teaching.

Jaundice

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology, signs, symptoms, and what is causing the signs and symptoms.

Cirrhosis

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology, signs, symptoms, therapeutic management, and provide patient teaching.
• Nurses must know the signs and symptoms that would indicate hepatic encephalopathy when liver failure progresses.

Nausea/Vomiting/Diarrhea

• Nurses must know the complications and the questions they are asking in data collection.

Abdomen Assessment

• Nurses must know how to perform an abdomen assessment.

Pain

• How does pain intensity and location and how the patient describes symptoms help to direct you in data gathering?

Constipation

• Nurses must provide patient teaching and non-pharmacological interventions.

Dietary Teaching for GI Disorders

• Nurses must know dietary teaching related to different GI disorders.

Gastric Surgery

• Nurses must explain to the patient what complications are associated with gastric surgery.
• Nurses must provide patient teaching to minimize risk for dumping syndrome.

Esophageal Cancer

• Nurses must know who is at risk, signs, symptoms, and therapeutic management.

Enteral Feeding

• Nurses must provide nursing care for patients with enteral feeding.
• Nurses must know how to check placement, patient positioning during administration, and signs and symptoms of aspiration.
• Nurses must know what is therapeutic management.

NG Tubes

• Nurses must know the primary reason this intervention is used.

GERD

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology and what conditions/lifestyle choices contribute.
• Nurses must understand the therapeutic management and provide patient teaching.

Stomatitis

• Nurses must know what causes it, signs, symptoms, therapeutic management, and provide patient teaching and dietary teaching.

Diverticulitis

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology, signs, symptoms, therapeutic management, and provide patient teaching to reduce the risk for progression.

Appendicitis

• Nurses must know the signs and symptoms, McBurney's point, and complications of appendicitis.

Crohn's Disease

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology, signs, symptoms, therapeutic management, and provide patient teaching.

Peritonitis

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology, signs, symptoms, and what is management.

Fecal Impaction

• Nurses must know the causes, signs, symptoms, complications, and provide patient teaching to prevent.

Acute Pancreatitis

• Nurses must know the pathophysiology, signs, symptoms, and what labs are performed.