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Question 1
A patient with left-sided heart failure will most likely present with which primary respiratory symptom?
Answer: Orthopnea and paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea due to pulmonary congestion from fluid backing up into the pulmonary circulation.
Question 2
What is the priority nursing intervention when a patient experiences chest pain with ST-segment elevation on the ECG?
Answer: Administer oxygen, obtain a 12-lead ECG, give sublingual nitroglycerin if BP allows, and notify the physician immediately for possible STEMI protocol activation.
Question 3
Which serum lab value is the MOST specific biomarker for myocardial infarction?
Answer: Troponin I or Troponin T, as these cardiac-specific proteins are released only when myocardial cell injury occurs and remain elevated for up to 14 days.
Question 4
A patient on digoxin reports nausea, yellow-green visual halos, and has a heart rate of 48 bpm. What is the nurse's priority action?
Answer: Hold the digoxin, notify the physician, and check the serum digoxin level and potassium level, as these are classic signs of digoxin toxicity.
Question 5
What ankle-brachial index (ABI) value is diagnostic of peripheral arterial disease (PAD)?
Answer: An ABI of 0.9 or less indicates PAD; values below 0.4 suggest severe, limb-threatening ischemia.