A surgeon is performing an abdominal hysterectomy. Before the surgery is completed, the operating room nurse counts the sponges and notes that the sponge count is not correlating with the preoperative count. Which action by the nurse is important?
Informing the surgeon of the situation
Asking the circulating nurse to look for the sponge
Looking on the instrument table for the sponge
Recording that the count was incorrect
The Correct Answer is A
A. The highest priority is patient safety. If the sponge count is incorrect, the surgeon must be immediately informed so that the surgical site can be inspected before closure. This prevents the risk of a retained surgical item, which can lead to severe complications.
B. While the circulating nurse may assist in locating the sponge, the surgeon must first be informed to delay closure and possibly search within the patient.
C. This step may be taken as part of the overall search, but the first action should be to notify the surgeon.
D. Documentation is necessary, but not the priority in this moment. Immediate communication to the surgical team is critical to prevent harm.
Nursing Test Bank
Naxlex Comprehensive Predictor Exams
Related Questions
Correct Answer is C
Explanation
A. Ranitidine is an H2 receptor blocker that decreases stomach acid production.
B. pantoprazole (Protonix) – Pantoprazole is a proton pump inhibitor (PPI) that significantly reduces gastric acid secretion.
C. metronidazole (Flagyl) – Metronidazole is an antibiotic used to treat anaerobic bacterial infections; it has no effect on stomach acid secretion.
D. omeprazole (Prilosec) – Omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor that blocks acid production in the stomach
Correct Answer is D
Explanation
A. Completing an incident report is important for documentation and quality improvement, but it is not the immediate priority.
B. Contacting the provider is appropriate after assessing the patient’s current status.
C. Administering a carbohydrate snack may be necessary if the blood glucose is low, but it should be guided by actual glucose results.
D. The priority is to assess the client’s current blood glucose level to determine if hypoglycemia is developing due to unnecessary insulin administration. This ensures that timely corrective measures can be taken based on the actual reading.
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