Gastrointestinal Nursing Flashcards
7 cards from real MSNCB practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Gastrointestinal Nursing flashcards as text
A patient with esophageal varices undergoes endoscopic band ligation. In the immediate post-procedure period, the nurse should prioritize monitoring for:
Answer: Re-bleeding and hematemesis
Re-bleeding is the most immediate life-threatening complication following esophageal variceal banding.
Which electrolyte imbalance is a nurse most likely to find in a patient with prolonged nasogastric suctioning?
Answer: Hypokalemia and metabolic alkalosis
NG suctioning removes hydrochloric acid and potassium, leading to hypokalemia and hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis.
A patient with hepatitis B asks the nurse how the infection is most commonly transmitted. The correct response is:
Answer: Contact with infected blood, sexual contact, and perinatal transmission
Hepatitis B is a bloodborne pathogen transmitted through blood, sexual contact, and from mother to infant at birth.
A patient is admitted with a small bowel obstruction. Which assessment finding differentiates a complete obstruction from a partial obstruction?
Answer: Absence of flatus and bowel sounds
Absence of flatus (obstipation) and absent bowel sounds distal to the obstruction are hallmarks of a complete small bowel obstruction.
When caring for a patient with an ileal pouch-anal anastomosis (J-pouch), the nurse expects the patient to experience which long-term adaptation?
Answer: Six to eight loose stools per day that decrease over time
After J-pouch creation, patients typically have 6–8 stools/day initially, which decreases as the pouch capacity increases over 12–18 months.
A patient with chronic liver disease has a serum albumin of 2.0 g/dL. The nurse understands this contributes to ascites primarily because:
Answer: Decreased albumin reduces osmotic pressure, allowing fluid to shift into the peritoneal cavity
Low serum albumin decreases oncotic pressure, shifting fluid from the vascular space into the peritoneal cavity.
A nurse is irrigating a colostomy and notes no return of irrigation fluid after 30 minutes. The most appropriate initial action is to:
Answer: Reposition the patient and gently advance the cone
Repositioning and gently repositioning the irrigation cone often resolves a kinked tube or stoma spasm that blocks fluid return.