A nurse can most accurately assess a client's apical heart rate by which of the following methods?

Answer and Explanation

The correct answer is choice C, Read back the order to the physician.

After obtaining the physician's order over the phone, the nurse should read back the order to the physician to confirm accuracy and prevent medication errors.

This process ensures that the order is correctly transcribed and the right medication, dose, and route are given to the patient. Calling the pharmacy to check medication availability is not the nurse's responsibility, and initiating the prescription and administering the medication is inappropriate without confirming the order with the physician. Drawing up the medication into an appropriately labeled syringe before confirming the order with the physician is also inappropriate and can lead to medication errors. Therefore, reading back the order to the physician is the most appropriate action for the nurse to take.

A. Skin was pink, warm, dry, and intact. Capillary refill was less than 5 seconds in all fingers. Radial pulses were +4 and equal bilaterally. Grips were strong 10 out of 10 and equal bilaterally:
Incorrect. Capillary refill should be less than 2-3 seconds for normal findings; less than 5 seconds would be too long and could indicate poor perfusion. Radial pulses graded +4 are not typical and suggest a bounding pulse, which could indicate an abnormal condition. Grips graded 10/10 is not the standard grading system; typically, grips are graded out of 5.

B. Skin was pink, warm, dry, and intact. Capillary refill was less than 3 seconds in all fingers. Radial pulses were +2 and equal bilaterally. Grips were strong 5/5 and equal bilaterally:
Correct. This option uses proper terminology. Capillary refill of less than 3 seconds is normal, radial pulses graded +2 are normal, and grips are appropriately graded on a 5-point scale, with 5/5 being the normal strength.

C. Skin was pink, warm, dry, and intact. Capillary refill was more than 3 seconds in all fingers. Radial pulses were 1 and equal. Grips were strong 4/4 and symmetrical:
Incorrect. Capillary refill of more than 3 seconds indicates delayed perfusion, which is abnormal. Radial pulses graded 1 indicate a weak pulse, which is not within normal limits. Additionally, grips are usually graded out of 5, not 4.

D. Skin was warm and dry and intact. Capillary refill was less than 3 seconds in all fingers. Radial pulses were 3. Grips were strong and equal:
Incorrect. While some aspects are correct (capillary refill), the pulse grading system is incomplete here. Radial pulses should be recorded as +1 to +4, and +3 would indicate a stronger-than-normal pulse, which is not typical for normal findings. Grip strength is not fully documented here either, as it should include a scale (e.g., 5/5).