Question

You are caring for an 85-year-old man who is dying. He has been comatose for several days. His respirations are now shallow and rattling. His adult children at the bedside state, "We don't want our father to suffocate." Which action should you take?

Answer 1

Reassure the family that terminal secretions are normal and try repositioning the patient.

Step-by-step explanation:

Terminal respiratory secretions can be defined as the way in which a perosn experience a death rattle due to the fact that the person begin to make a sounds because they are near death as a result of fluids such as saliva accumulating in their throat and upper chest making the person to no longer remove such secretions from the back of the throat which inturn lead to their body's breathing slows.

Therefore the action that I would take base on the scenario is to REASSURE THE FAMILY THAT TERMINAL SECRETIONS ARE NORMAL AND TRY TO REPOSITIONING THE PATIENTS.