Abdominal & elimination assessment

Question 1

What is urinary retention?

Answer 1

Inability to completely empty the bladder when urinating.

Question 2

The patient is a 86 year old male who is incontinent at night. An appropriate alternative to catheterisation for this patient would be:

Answer 2

• Uridome.
• Less fluid in the evening.
• Incontinence pad.

Question 3

The mechanism of action of the oral laxative docusate sodium (coloxyl) is:

Answer 3

Docusate is a stool softener. It works by increasing the amount of water the stool absorbs in the gut, making the stool softer and easier to pass.

Question 4

The nurse begins to suspect faecal impaction in a patient who has not passed a stool in 10 days when the patient

Answer 4

• Abdominal pain.
• Tenderness on palpation.
• Absent bowel sounds in LLQ.
• Dull sounds on percussion.

Question 5

An elderly patient states that she is worried because she has not had a bowel movement each day. The nurse’s best response concerning defecation patterns for elderly people would be:

Answer 5

The number of bowel movements per week varies between people. What is your usual bowel pattern?

Question 6

What is the definition of ascites?

Answer 6

The accumulation of fluid in the peritoneal cavity, causing abdominal swelling.
OR
Abnormal accumulation of fluid in the abdomen.

Question 7

What is a normal finding on palpation of the abdomen?v

Answer 7

The abdomen is non-tender and soft with no guarding, no palpable masses felt.

Question 8

When inspecting a client’s abdominal contour, the nurse observes the abdomen to be sunken with the lower edges of the ribs visible. The nurse describes and documents this as:

Answer 8

Scaphoid