Which action is appropriate while assessing the body temperature in a client who is suspected of having hypothermia quizlet?
The first thing to do with a patient suspected to be hypothermic is to remove wet clothes, because heat loss is five times greater when clothing is wet. Assessing vital signs is important, but the wet clothes should be removed first.
Which action would be the nurse's priority of care for a client with hypothermia? Hypothermia is associated with a decrease in core body temperature, which requires interventions that lead to an increase in the client's internal body temperature. The client should be first removed from the cold environment.
Antipyretics, evaporative cooling, ice packs, and cooled intravenous (IV) fluids can be used to reduce hyperthermia.
CORRECT: During moderate hypothermia, core rewarming methods (e.g., warm IV fluids, heated oxygen, heated gastric lavage) should be initiated prior to external rewarming methods (e.g., heating blankets, warm packs) to prevent “after-drop”.
Rationale: The correct answer is c (tympanic temperature). Taking oral temperature is avoided after oral surgery, and taking rectal temperature is avoided in the adult population. Thus, the best method is to measure tympanic temperature.
Hyperthermia is confirmed through accurate core body temperature measurement. Core body temperature is most easily measured orally, rectally, or via tympanic membrane measurements.
- Place thermometer tip in the centre of the armpit over the axillary artery, ensuring skin is dry and intact prior to probe placement.
- Place the patient's arm securely against their body.
- Turn thermometer on. For a more accurate reading, wait >3 minutes with thermometer in situ before obtaining a measurement.
- Be gentle. When you're helping a person with hypothermia, handle him or her gently. ...
- Move the person out of the cold. ...
- Remove wet clothing. ...
- Cover the person with blankets. ...
- Insulate the person's body from the cold ground. ...
- Monitor breathing. ...
- Provide warm beverages. ...
- Use warm, dry compresses.
Try to prevent body cooling and get the victim to a medical facility immediately. Gently move the victim to a warm shelter. Check for breathing and a heartbeat. Start CPR if necessary.
- Gently move the person out of the cold. ...
- Gently remove wet clothing. ...
- If further warming is needed, do so gradually. ...
- Offer the person warm, sweet, nonalcoholic drinks.
- Begin CPR if the person shows no signs of life, such as breathing, coughing or movement.
What are some nursing interventions for hypothermia?
...
Nursing Interventions
- Heat lamp, radiant warmer.
- Warming pads, mattress, or blankets.
- Submersion in a warm bath.
- Heated, moisturized oxygen.
- Warmed intravenous fluids or lavage fluids.
For treatment of moderate to severe hypothermia, oxygen may be heated up to 111.2°F (44°C). Gastric lavage with warm fluids is another intervention that can be used to treat moderate to severe hypothermia. A nasogastric tube is used to give warm fluids to the patient, warming their internal organs.
Nursing Interventions:
-The nurse will administer ordered antipyretics to the patient for a temperature greater than 100.4 per md order. -The nurse will encourage and offer oral fluid intake every two hours to the patient.
If you suspect that someone has hypothermia and emergency help is not available right away, move the person to a warmer location, if possible, and wrap them in a warm blanket to stop further heat loss.
- Provide mouth care. ...
- Keep clothing and bed linens dry. ...
- Encourage adequate fluid intake. ...
- Start intravenous normal saline solutions or as indicated. ...
- Understand that administering antipyretic medications have little use in treating hyperthermia.
Rectal temperatures are considered most accurate indication of the body's temperature. Oral and axillary temperature readings are about ½° to 1°F (. 3°C to . 6°C) below rectal.
Place the thermometer in the axilla (armpit). Place the forearm across the chest and ensure the upper arm is resting against the patient's side. Leave the thermometer in place for 5 minutes. This will ensure that the reading will be accurate.
This method requires a special thermometer, which is placed on the forehead. Taking a temperature rectally requires careful consideration and is not used in the hospital too often. However, It is said to be one of the more accurate measurements of the body's true temperature.
If possible, take a cool shower, soak in a cool bath, or put towels soaked in cool water on your skin. If you're outdoors and not near shelter, soaking in a cool pond or stream can help bring your temperature down.
A rectal temperature is the most accurate way of determining your core body temperature and is more accurate than mouth or forehead temperatures. A blood test to check blood sodium or potassium and the content of gases in your blood to see if there's been damage to your central nervous system.
What is the best way to take someone's temperature?
- Clean the tip with cold water and soap, then rinse it.
- Turn the thermometer on.
- Put the tip under your tongue, towards the back of your mouth.
- Close your lips around the thermometer.
- Wait until it beeps or flashes.
- Check the temperature on the display.
Take frequent breaks. Drink plenty of water. Wear cool clothing. Find a cool shady place to rest.
Over-the-counter medications
In the case of a high fever or a fever that causes discomfort, your care provider may recommend nonprescription medication, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol, others) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others).
Take a tepid bath or shower. Use cold wet towels or dampen clothing with tepid water when the heat is extreme. Avoid hot, heavy meals. Avoid alcohol. Determine if the person is taking any medications that increase hyperthermia risk; if so, consult with the patient's physician.
Once the heart starts beating again, healthcare providers use cooling devices to lower your body temperature for a short time. It's lowered to around 89°F to 93°F (32°C to 34°C). The treatment usually lasts about 24 hours. The heart has an electrical signal that helps coordinate the heartbeat.
Conclusions: Continuous CPR is recommended for CA due to primary severe hypothermia. Mechanical chest-compression devices should be used when available and CPR-interruptions avoided. Only if this is not possible should CPR be delayed or performed intermittently.
- Drink plenty of fluids. Fever can cause fluid loss and dehydration, so drink water, juices or broth. ...
- Rest. You need rest to recover, and activity can raise your body temperature.
- Stay cool. Dress in light clothing, keep the room temperature cool and sleep with only a sheet or light blanket.
Hypothermia is often caused by cold, wet conditions. To help prevent hypothermia, dress properly, avoid potentially dangerous weather conditions, and dry out as quickly as possible when you get wet. To treat the victim, find shelter, remove wet clothing, give warm liquids, and rewarm the person.
Wear warm, multi-layered clothing with good hand and feet protection (avoid overly constricting wrist bands, socks, and shoes). Wear warm headgear. This is particularly important since significant heat is lost through an unprotected head. If possible, change into dry clothes whenever clothing becomes wet.
If the temperature of these fluids is below core body temperature, they can cause significant heat loss. Warming intravenous and irrigation fluids to core body temperature or above might prevent some of this heat loss and subsequent hypothermia.
What is the most effective way to cool a patient with hyperthermia?
The definitive treatment for heat-related illness is total body cooling. Conduction and evaporation are the two modes of cooling employed in the treatment of heat-related illnesses. Studies have shown ice-water immersion to be the most rapidly effective.
Treating a high temperature
get lots of rest. drink plenty of fluids (water is best) to avoid dehydration – drink enough so your pee is light yellow and clear. take paracetamol or ibuprofen if you feel uncomfortable.
Providing physical treatments, emotional support, and patient education are all examples of nursing interventions. Nurses typically perform these actions as part of a nursing care plan to monitor and improve their patient's comfort and health.
- Be gentle. When you're helping a person with hypothermia, handle him or her gently. ...
- Move the person out of the cold. ...
- Remove wet clothing. ...
- Cover the person with blankets. ...
- Insulate the person's body from the cold ground. ...
- Monitor breathing. ...
- Provide warm beverages. ...
- Use warm, dry compresses.
Cover the person completely with foil or a space blanket, or use your own body heat to help warm him/her. Use warm compresses on the neck, chest, and groin. Give warm, sweet fluids. (Any fluids given should be nonalcoholic, as alcohol interferes with the blood's circulation.)
- Seek medical help immediately. ...
- Check for ABC - Airway, breathing and circulation.
- Handle the person gently. ...
- Allow them to lay down. ...
- Move the person out of the cold, and/or insulate the person (e.g., by applying a hypothermia wrap).
Give extra covering (passive warming), such as clothing and blankets; cover postoperative patients with heat-retaining blankets. Warm blankets provide a passive method for rewarming. Give heated oral fluids for alert patients. Warm fluids produce a heat source.
Promote Body Heat Lost:
Dress the person with lightweight clothing. Keep the person cool by providing a fan or nurse him in air-conditioner room. Sponge the person with tepid water. Take a cool bath if necessary.
Hypothermia can initially be treated by removing the patient from the cold environment and by replacing any wet clothing with warm clothing or heated blankets. Other interventions to correct hypothermia include administration of warm IV solutions, heated supplemental oxygen, and warm gastric lavage.
- Ask the person a question that requires higher reasoning in the brain (to count backward from 100 by nines). ...
- If shivering can be stopped voluntarily, it is mild hypothermia. ...
- If you can't get a radial pulse at the wrist, it indicates a core temperature below about 90°F (32°C).
Which of the following methods is safe to use when warming a person who has hypothermia?
Warm the person by wrapping them in blankets or putting dry clothing on the person. Do not immerse the person in warm water. Rapid warming can cause heart arrhythmia. If using hot water bottles or chemical hot packs, wrap them in cloth; don't apply them directly to the skin.
- fast, strong pulse or very weak pulse.
- fast, deep breathing.
- reduced sweating.
- hot, red, wet, or dry skin.
- nausea.
- headache.
- dizziness.
- confusion.
The recommended rate of rewarming varies between 0.5 and 2°C/hour.
- Shivering.
- Exhaustion or feeling very tired.
- Confusion.
- Fumbling hands.
- Memory loss.
- Slurred speech.
- Drowsiness.
Seek emergency medical care
If you suspect heatstroke, call 911 or your local emergency number. Then move the person out of the heat right away. Cool the person by whatever means available.