Final answer:
In a case of acute osteomyelitis, a nurse would typically expect to find leukocytosis and localized bone pain as part of the assessment findings, indicating an infectious process occurring within the bone tissue.
Step-by-step explanation:
In a patient diagnosed with acute osteomyelitis, a nurse should expect to find signs and symptoms that are indicative of an infection within the bone. These may include a combination of factors such as an elevated white blood cell count; in medical terms, this is referred to as leukocytosis, which is the body's natural response to an infection. Alongside leukocytosis, patients often experience localized bone pain, which is the result of inflammation and infection affecting bone tissue.
Therefore, the assessment finding that a nurse would expect to find in a patient diagnosed with acute osteomyelitis is leukocytosis and localized bone pain. This set of findings is more consistent with an infectious process, whereas leukopenia (a decrease in white blood cells) is not typically observed in such bacterial infections. Similarly, petechiae over the chest and abnormal arterial blood gas (ABG) results are not classic signs of osteomyelitis.