Acute Respiratory Failure Flashcards
7 cards from real CCRN practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Acute Respiratory Failure flashcards as text
Which patient is the BEST candidate for noninvasive positive pressure ventilation (NIPPV)?
Answer: Alert COPD patient with hypercapnic acidosis
Awake, cooperative COPD patients with hypercapnic respiratory failure benefit most from NIPPV.
Which is an absolute contraindication to noninvasive ventilation?
Answer: Inability to protect the airway
Patients who cannot protect their airway risk aspiration and require intubation rather than NIPPV.
In a mechanically ventilated patient, increasing the PEEP primarily improves oxygenation by:
Answer: Recruiting collapsed alveoli and increasing functional residual capacity
PEEP keeps alveoli open at end-expiration, improving FRC and reducing shunt.
A ventilated patient suddenly desaturates with absent breath sounds on the right and tracheal deviation to the left. The priority action is:
Answer: Needle decompression for tension pneumothorax
Tracheal deviation with unilateral absent breath sounds and desaturation indicates a tension pneumothorax requiring immediate decompression.
To primarily lower an elevated PaCO2 in a volume-controlled ventilated patient, the nurse should anticipate:
Answer: Increasing the respiratory rate or tidal volume (minute ventilation)
CO2 elimination depends on minute ventilation, so raising rate or tidal volume lowers PaCO2.
High peak airway pressure with a NORMAL plateau pressure most likely indicates:
Answer: Increased airway resistance (e.g., secretions or bronchospasm)
A high peak with normal plateau reflects a resistance problem in the airways or circuit, not the lung parenchyma.
Which intervention is part of the ventilator bundle to prevent ventilator-associated pneumonia?
Answer: Elevate the head of the bed 30–45 degrees
Head-of-bed elevation reduces aspiration risk and is a core VAP prevention measure.