Question

You are assessing a patient with abdominal pain. During your​ history, you have determined that the patient receives dialysis three times a​ week, and you note a dialysis shunt in his left arm. How would this knowledge change your assessment of this​ patient's vitals?

A. Do not use that arm to obtain a blood pressure.
B. Do not evaluate the skin condition in that arm.
C. Do not listen to breath sounds on that side of the body.
D. Do not assess sensory findings in that arm.

Answer 1

The correct procedure when assessing a patient who has a dialysis shunt is to avoid taking blood pressure on the arm with the shunt to prevent damage and ensure accurate readings.

Step-by-step explanation:

When assessing a patient with a dialysis shunt, it's essential to avoid using the arm with the shunt for blood pressure measurements. This is because the increased pressure could damage the shunt or provide inaccurate readings. Therefore, the correct answer to how the knowledge of a patient receiving dialysis three times a week with a dialysis shunt in his left arm would change the assessment of the patient's vitals is:A. Do not use that arm to obtain a blood pressure.

This precaution is necessary since the arm with the shunt is used repeatedly for dialysis treatments and must be preserved for this purpose. This does not preclude assessing the skin condition, listening to breath sounds, or assessing sensory findings, as these can still be performed either on the opposite side or with care.