Question

The nurse has a patient who is short of breath and calls the health care provider using SBAR (Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation) to help with the communication. What does the nurse first address?

A. The respiratory rate is 28.
B. The patient has a history of lung cancer.
C. The patient is short of breath.
D. He or she requests an order for a breathing treatment.

Answer 1

The nurse using SBAR protocol would first address that the patient is short of breath. Respiratory rate and other medical history would follow in the background section, and recommendations last.

Step-by-step explanation:

When a nurse is using the SBAR (Situation-Background-Assessment-Recommendation) form of communication to inform a health care provider about a patient who is short of breath, the first thing they should address is C. the patient is short of breath. This is the 'Situation' part of the SBAR and it provides an immediate context for the urgency of the call. Details such as the respiratory rate being 28 (option A) and the patient's history of lung cancer (option B) would be covered in the 'Background' section, while recommendations for interventions, such as a breathing treatment (option D), would be included in the last section of the SBAR.

Respiratory rate is an important indicator of disease and is carefully controlled by the respiratory center in the medulla oblongata of the brain, responding to changes in carbon dioxide, oxygen, and pH levels in the blood. An elevated respiratory rate can be a response to hypoxemia, which was observed in the case of Barbara mentioned in the question, where lower-than-normal levels of oxygen were found in her blood. Furthermore, the presence of crackling sounds during breathing, greenish sputum, and a shadow on the chest radiograph all suggest a respiratory condition such as pneumonia.