The nurse is educating a patient with iron deficiency anemia about food sources high in iron and how to enhance the absorption of iron when eating these foods. What can the nurse inform the client would enhance the absorption?

Choice A reason: Distended neck veins in the sitting position indicate worsening hypervolemia, reflecting increased venous pressure and heart strain. This aligns with cardiovascular assessment, making it the correct finding the nurse would identify as a sign of deteriorating fluid overload in the client.

Choice B reason: Breath sounds in the right lower lobe are normal unless crackles indicate fluid. Distended neck veins are more specific to worsening hypervolemia, making this incorrect, as it’s not a clear sign of deterioration in the nurse’s fluid status assessment.

Choice C reason: Unchanged weight doesn’t indicate worsening hypervolemia, which causes weight gain. Distended neck veins signal increased fluid, making this incorrect, as it’s not a dynamic finding compared to the nurse’s assessment of worsening fluid overload in the client.

Choice D reason: Yellow-tinged nose and ears suggest jaundice, not hypervolemia. Distended neck veins are a direct sign of worsening fluid status, making this incorrect, as it’s unrelated to the nurse’s evaluation of deteriorating hypervolemia in the client’s condition.

Choice A reason: Leafy greens contain iron, but water doesn’t enhance absorption; vitamin C does. Calf’s liver with orange juice maximizes absorption, making this incorrect, as it lacks the vitamin C component the nurse should teach to improve iron uptake in anemia.

Choice B reason: Apples and carrots have minimal iron and no vitamin C to enhance absorption. Calf’s liver with orange juice is optimal, making this incorrect, as it doesn’t provide iron or absorption enhancers compared to the nurse’s teaching for iron deficiency anemia.

Choice C reason: Steak is iron-rich, but mushrooms don’t significantly enhance absorption like vitamin C. Orange juice with liver is better, making this incorrect, as it’s less effective than the nurse’s recommendation to pair iron with a vitamin C source for anemia.

Choice D reason: Calf’s liver is high in iron, and orange juice’s vitamin C enhances non-heme iron absorption. This aligns with nutritional education for iron deficiency anemia, making it the correct choice for the nurse to teach the client to improve iron absorption effectively.