A nurse is providing care for a patient in a long-term care facility who is receiving enteral feedings via a nasogastric (NG) tube.
What action should the nurse take before administering the tube feeding?

Choice A rationale

Glaucoma is a condition that damages the eye’s optic nerve and can result in vision loss and blindness. However, it doesn’t cause a cloudy, opaque area over the lens of the eye.

Choice B rationale

Diabetic retinopathy is a diabetes complication that affects eyes. It’s caused by damage to the blood vessels of the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye (retina). But it doesn’t cause a cloudy, opaque area over the lens of the eye.

Choice C rationale

Macular degeneration is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. But it doesn’t cause a cloudy, opaque area over the lens of the eye.

Choice D rationale

A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. Cataracts are very common in older people. Symptoms of cataracts include cloudy or blurry vision.

Choice A rationale

Vibration of the eardrum is not directly transmitted to the eighth cranial nerve, bypassing the inner ear structures. The vibrations from the eardrum are first transmitted through the ossicles (tiny bones in the middle ear) to the cochlea in the inner ear.

Choice B rationale

Sound waves enter the ear canal, but they are not directly converted to electrical impulses. The sound waves cause the eardrum to vibrate, and these vibrations are transmitted through the ossicles to the cochlea, where they are converted into electrical signals that are sent to the brain via the eighth cranial nerve.

Choice C rationale

Vibration of the eardrum transmits through the bony ossicles to the perilymph in the inner ear, stimulating the eighth cranial nerve. This is the correct description of the process of hearing.

Choice D rationale

Sound is not transmitted directly from the eardrum to the brain. The sound-induced vibrations of the eardrum are transmitted through the ossicles to the cochlea, where they are converted into electrical signals that are sent to the brain via the eighth cranial nerve.