Problem
CRITICAL THINKING 33.2
How should the medical assistant adapt temperature-taking techniques in the following scenarios?
1. Patient who talks continuously with the thermometer in his mouth
2. 7-year-old patient with bilateral otitis externa (swimmer's ear)
3. 3-month-old patient when a temporal artery thermometer is available
4. 46-year-old patient with a severe asthma attack
5. 72-year-old patient with bilateral impacted cerumen
6. 28-year-old patient who has just smoked a cigarette
CRITICAL THINKING 33.4
Mrs. Arnez has a documented thready pulse. What site should Carlos use to measure the pulse? Why should he take the pulse for a full minute?
CRITICAL THINKING 33.9
Calculate these weights and round your answers to the nearest tenth.
• A patient weighs 87 kg. Convert the weight to lb.
• A patient weighs 148 lb. Convert the weight to kg.
• A patient is 84 lb. Convert the weight to kg.
• A patient is 26 kg. Convert the weight to lb
CASE SCENARIOS
Mrs Parker stops at the clinic on her way home from work. She doesn't have an appointment to see the provider but asks if Carlos can take her blood pressure because she hasn't been "feeling herself" the last few days.
1) Carlos is not sure whether he should use a normal adult size blood pressure cuff or a large adult uf. How would he be able to tell if he needs the large adult cuff? Why is this important?
2) Carlos has obtained a blood pressure reading of 150/94 mm Hg in the left arm and 160/98 mm Hg in the right arm. Should Carlos wait for a few minutes and then take the pressure again? Why?
3) Concerned about the readings, Carlos decides the patient should see the provider. What type of questions might Carlos want to ask Mrs. Parker?