A patient with an acute asthma attack is using accessory muscles and can speak only short phrases. Which finding requires the most urgent nursing response?
Correct answer: C. Silent chest with increasing drowsiness
- A. Expiratory wheezing
- B. Pulse rate of 104 beats per minute
- C. Silent chest with increasing drowsiness
- D. Mild anxiety about breathing
Explanation
A silent chest with drowsiness suggests severely reduced airflow and worsening respiratory failure, so airway and breathing take priority. Wheezing can occur in asthma, but the disappearance of breath sounds may indicate critically little air movement.
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About Respiratory System
The respiratory system includes the air passages, lungs, pleura, alveoli and the mechanics of breathing. It explains pulmonary ventilation, gas exchange, oxygen and carbon dioxide transport, regulation of breathing, and the difference between external respiration in the lungs and internal respiration in body tissues.
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