Question

A critical pathway in an orthopedic unit indicates that a patient should be afebrile, normotensive, and eupneic after knee replacement surgery. The nurse performs a postoperative examination of a patient's status after left knee replacement surgery and finds that the patient is experiencing a low-grade temperature. What is this finding called?

a) Variance
b) Positive variance
c) Negative variance
d) Critical finding

Answer 1

A postoperative low-grade temperature in a patient after knee replacement surgery, which deviates from the expected critical pathway outcome of being afebrile, is called a negative variance.

Step-by-step explanation:

The finding of a low-grade temperature in a patient after knee replacement surgery, when the patient was expected to be afebrile according to a critical pathway, is known as a variance. In clinical practice, a variance refers to a departure from the anticipated plan of care. When an outcome is not as expected or there are unmet goals, it is considered a negative variance because it indicates a deviation from the desired or expected condition (which would be afebrile, normotensive, and eupneic in this case).