Neurological Nursing Care Flashcards

A patient diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is most at risk for which life-threatening complication?

Answer: Respiratory failure

GBS causes ascending paralysis that can involve the respiratory muscles, leading to respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation.

Which symptom is characteristic of Parkinson's disease that the medical-surgical nurse should assess for?

Answer: Resting tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia

The classic triad of Parkinson's disease is resting tremor, muscle rigidity, and bradykinesia (slowness of movement).

A patient with multiple sclerosis (MS) reports worsening symptoms after a hot shower. The nurse recognizes this as:

Answer: Uhthoff's phenomenon — temporary worsening with heat

Uhthoff's phenomenon is the temporary worsening of MS symptoms with heat exposure due to impaired nerve conduction in demyelinated fibers.

A patient with a cervical spinal cord injury at C4 suddenly develops bradycardia and hypotension with warm, flushed skin below the injury. The nurse should recognize this as:

Answer: Neurogenic shock

Neurogenic shock following high spinal cord injury causes loss of sympathetic tone, resulting in bradycardia, hypotension, and vasodilation below the injury.

Which intervention is the priority when a patient with a C6 spinal cord injury develops severe hypertension (BP 210/115 mmHg), pounding headache, and diaphoresis above the level of injury?

Answer: Sit the patient upright and identify/remove the noxious stimulus

Autonomic dysreflexia requires immediate upright positioning and identification/removal of the triggering noxious stimulus (usually a distended bladder or bowel) as the first intervention.

A post-operative craniotomy patient has a urine output of 600 mL/hour with a specific gravity of 1.001. The nurse suspects:

Answer: Diabetes insipidus (DI)

Diabetes insipidus presents with large volumes of very dilute urine (low specific gravity), common after pituitary or hypothalamic surgery.