NUR 405 Exam 6
- What is the pressure exerted by the volume of the intracranial contents within the cranial
vault?
Answer
intracranial pressure
- A is present when the patient is not oriented, does not
follow commands, or needs persistent stimuli to achieve a state of alert- ness.
Answer
altered level of consciousness
- What is a clinical state of unarousable unresponsiveness in which there are no purposeful
responses to internal or external stimuli, although nonpurposeful responses to painful stimuli and brainstem reflexes may be present?
Answer
coma
- What is a state of unresponsiveness to the environment in which the patient makes no
voluntary movement?
Answer
akinetic mutism
- is a condition in which the unresponsive patient resumes
sleep-wake cycles after coma but is devoid of cognitive or affective mental function. 1 / 4
persistent vegetative state
- A differs from persistent vegetative state in that the patient
has inconsistent but reproducible signs of awareness.
Answer
minimally conscious state
- What results from a lesion affecting the pons and results in paralysis and the inability to
speak, but vertical eye movements and lid elevation remain intact and are used to indicate responsiveness?
Answer
locked-in syndrome
- What are the three potential causes for altered LOC?
Answer
neurologic, toxic, meta- bolic
- Alterations in LOC occur along a .
Answer
continuum
- The patient with an altered LOC is at risk for alterations in every
. 2 / 4
SUBSCRIBE
body system
- LOC, a sensitive indicator of neurologic function is assessed based on the criteria in the
.
Answer
Glasgow Coma Scale (GSC)
- A GSC score of indicates sever impairment of neu-
rologic function, brain death, or pharmacologic inhibition of the neurologic response.
Answer
3
- A GSC score of indicates that the patient is fully
responsive.
Answer
15
- If the patient is comatose and had localized signs such as abnormal pupillary and motor
responses, it is assumed that
Answer
neurologic
- If the patient is comatose but pupillary light reflexes are preserved, a
or disorder is suspected. 3 / 4
SUBSCRIBE
Answer
tox- ic, metabolic
- The first priority of treatment for the patient with altered LOC is to obtain and maintain a
patent .
Answer
airway
- What is measured by the patient's ability to open the eyes spontaneously or in response to a
vocal or noxious stimulus (pressure or pain)?
Answer
alertness
- The most severe neurologic impairment results in
.
Answer
flaccidity
- Before and after , the patient is adequately ventilat- ed
to prevent hypoxia.
Answer
suctioning
- / 4