MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Which condition in a child should alert a nurse for increased fluid requirements?

a. Fever

b. Mechanical ventilation

c. Congestive heart failure

d. Increased intracranial pressure (ICP)

2. A nurse is conducting an in-service on gastrointestinal disorders. The nurse includes that melena, the passage of black, tarry stools, suggests bleeding from which area?

a. Perianal or rectal area

b. Hemorrhoids or anal fissures

c. Upper gastrointestinal (GI) tract

d. Lower GI tract

3. Which type of dehydration is defined as “dehydration that occurs in conditions in which electrolyte and water deficits are present in approximately balanced proportion”?

a. Isotonic dehydration

b. Hypotonic dehydration

c. Hypertonic dehydration

d. All types of dehydration in infants and small children

4. A nurse is admitting an infant with dehydration caused from water loss in excess of electrolyte loss. Which type of dehydration is this infant experiencing?

a. Isotonic

b. Isosmotic

c. Hypotonic

d. Hypertonic

5. An infant is brought to the emergency department with dehydration. Which physical assessment finding does the nurse expect?

a. Weight gain

b. Bradycardia

c. Poor skin turgor

d. Brisk capillary refill

6. Parents call the clinic and report that their toddler has had acute diarrhea for 24 hours. The nurse should further ask the parents if the toddler has which associated factor that is causing the acute diarrhea?

a. Celiac disease

b. Antibiotic therapy

c. Immunodeficiency

d. Protein malnutrition

7. Which pathogen is the viral pathogen that frequently causes acute diarrhea in young children?

a. Giardia organisms

b. Shigella organisms

c. Rotavirus

d. Salmonella organisms

8. Which is a parasite that causes acute diarrhea?

a. Shigella organisms

b. Salmonella organisms

c. Giardia lamblia

d. Escherichia coli

G. lamblia is a parasite that represents 10% of non-dysenteric illness in the United States. Shigella, Salmonella, and E. coli are bacterial pathogens.

9. A child is admitted with bacterial gastroenteritis. Which lab results of a stool specimen confirm this diagnosis?

a. Eosinophils

b. Occult blood

c. pH less than 6

d. Neutrophils and red blood cells

10. Which therapeutic management should the nurse prepare to initiate first for a child with acute diarrhea and moderate dehydration?

a. Clear liquids

b. Adsorbents, such as kaolin and pectin

c. Oral rehydration solution (ORS)

d. Antidiarrheal medications such as paregoric