Answer: Today's NCLEX Question of the Day
The answer is B) Place the end of the chest tube in a bottle of sterile water.
Submerging the open end of the tube about 2 cm in sterile water creates a quick temporary water seal. Air can bubble out, but it can't be pulled back into the pleural space, which helps prevent a pneumothorax while you get a new drainage system connected.
Why not the others: A, clamping for a long time, can trap air and cause a tension pneumothorax, so clamping is only very brief and only if your facility allows it. C, removing the tube, is never the nurse's job here and would cause more harm. D, raising the unit above the chest, lets drainage flow back into the pleural space.
NCLEX tip: keep sterile water (and petroleum gauze for accidental removal) at the bedside of every client with a chest tube, and keep the drainage unit below the level of the chest.
How did you do? Tell us below.
Did you get it right? What chest tube safety check do you always do at the start of a shift?
1
0
Comments (0)
Log in to join the conversation.
No comments yet. Be the first to reply.