Answers and Rationale Maternal and Child Health Practice Test Part 3
1. D. The anterior fontanelle typically closes anywhere between 12 to 18 months of age. Thus, assessing the anterior fontanelle as still being slightly open is a normal finding requiring no further action. Because it is normal finding for this age, notifying he physician or performing additional examinations are inappropriate.
2. D. Solid foods are not recommended before age 4 to 6 months because of the sucking reflex and the immaturity of the gastrointestinal tract and immune system. Therefore, the earliest age at which to introduce foods is 4 months. Any time earlier would be inappropriate.
3. A. According to Erikson, infants need to have their needs met consistently and effectively to develop a sense of trust. An infant whose needs are consistently unmet or who experiences significant delays in having them met, such as in the case of the infant of a substance-abusing mother, will develop a sense of uncertainty, leading to mistrust of caregivers and the environment. Toddlers develop a sense of shame when their autonomy needs are not met consistently. Preschoolers develop a sense of guilt when their sense of initiative is thwarted. Schoolagers develop a sense of inferiority when they do not develop a sense of industry.
4. D. A busy box facilitates the fine motor development that occurs between 4 and 6 months. Balloons are contraindicated because small children may aspirate balloons. Because the button eyes of a teddy bear may detach and be aspirated, this toy is unsafe for children younger than 3 years. A 5-month-old is too young to use a push-pull toy.
5. B. Infants need to have their security needs met by being held and cuddled. At 2 months of age, they are unable to make the connection between crying and attention. This association does not occur until late infancy or early toddlerhood. Letting the infant cry for a time before picking up the infant or leaving the infant alone to cry herself to sleep interferes with meeting the infant’s need for security at this very young age. Infants cry for many reasons. Assuming that the child s hungry may cause overfeeding problems such as obesity.
6. B. Underdeveloped abdominal musculature gives the toddler a characteristically protruding abdomen. During toddlerhood, food intake decreases, not increases. Toddlers are characteristically bowlegged because the leg muscles must bear the weight of the relatively large trunk. Toddler growth patterns occur in a steplike, not linear pattern.
7. B. According to Erikson, toddlers experience a sense of shame when they are not allowed to develop appropriate independence and autonomy. Infants develop mistrust when their needs are not consistently gratified. Preschoolers develop guilt when their initiative needs are not met while schoolagers develop a sense of inferiority when their industry needs are not met.
8. C. Young toddlers are still sensorimotor learners and they enjoy the experience of feeling different textures. Thus, finger paints would be an appropriate toy choice. Multiple-piece toys, such as puzzle, are too difficult to manipulate and may be hazardous if the pieces are small enough to be aspirated. Miniature cars also have a high potential for aspiration. Comic books are on too high a level for toddlers. Although they may enjoy looking at some of the pictures, toddlers are more likely to rip a comic book apart.
9. D. The child must be able to sate the need to go to the bathroom to initiate toilet training. Usually, a child needs to be dry for only 2 hours, not 4 hours. The child also must be able to sit, walk, and squat. A new sibling would most likely hinder toilet training.
10. A. Toddlers become picky eaters, experiencing food jags and eating large amounts one day and very little the next. A toddler’s food gags express a preference for the ritualism of eating one type of food for several days at a time. Toddlers typically enjoy socialization and limiting others at meal time. Toddlers prefer to feed themselves and thus are too young to have table manners. A toddler’s appetite and need for calories, protein, and fluid decrease due to the dramatic slowing of growth rate.
11. D. Preschoolers commonly have fears of the dark, being left alone especially at bedtime, and ghosts, which may affect the child’s going to bed at night. Quiet play and time with parents is a positive bedtime routine that provides security and also readies the child for sleep. The child should sleep in his own bed. Telling the child about locking him in his room will viewed by the child as a threat. Additionally, a locked door is frightening and potentially hazardous. Vigorous activity at bedtime stirs up the child and makes more difficult to fall asleep.
12. B. Dress-up clothes enhance imaginative play and imagination, allowing preschoolers to engage in rich fantasy play. Building blocks and wooden puzzles are appropriate for encouraging fine motor development. Big wheels and tricycles encourage gross motor development.
13. D. The school-aged child is in the stage of concrete operations, marked by inductive reasoning, logical operations, and reversible concrete thought. The ability to consider the future requires formal thought operations, which are not developed until adolescence. Collecting baseball cards and marbles, ordering dolls by size, and simple problem-solving options are examples of the concrete operational thinking of the schoolager.
14. C. Reaction formation is the schoolager’s typical defensive response when hospitalized. In reaction formation, expression of unacceptable thoughts or behaviors is prevented (or overridden) by the exaggerated expression of opposite thoughts or types of behaviors. Regression is seen in toddlers and preshcoolers when they retreat or return to an earlier level of development. Repression refers to the involuntary blocking of unpleasant feelings and experiences from one’s awareness. Rationalization is the attempt to make excuses to justify unacceptable feelings or behaviors.
15. C. The schoolager’s cognitive level is sufficiently developed to enable good understanding of and adherence to rules. Thus, schoolagers should be able to understand the potential dangers around them. With growth comes greater freedom and children become more adventurous and daring. The school-aged child is also still prone to accidents and home hazards, especially because of increased motor abilities and independence. Plus the home hazards differ from other age groups. These hazards, which are potentially lethal but tempting, may include firearms, alcohol, and medications. School-age children begin to internalize their own controls and need less outside direction. Plus the child is away from home more often. Some parental or caregiver assistance is still needed to answer questions and provide guidance for decisions and responsibilities.
16. C. The most significant skill learned during the school-age period is reading. During this time the child develops formal adult articulation patterns and learns that words can be arranged in structure. Collective, ordering, and sorting, although important, are not most significant skills learned.
17. C. Based on the recommendations of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics, the MMR vaccine should be given at the age of 10 if the child did not receive it between the ages of 4 to 6 years as recommended. Immunization for diphtheria and tetanus is required at age 13.
18. D. According to Erikson, role diffusion develops when the adolescent does not develop a sense of identity and a sense or where he fits in. Toddlers develop a sense of shame when they do not achieve autonomy. Preschoolers develop a sense of guilt when they do not develop a sense of initiative. School-age children develop a sense of inferiority when they do not develop a sense of industry.
19. A. Menarche refers to the onset of the first menstruation or menstrual period and refers only to the first cycle. Uterine growth and broadening of the pelvic girdle occurs before menarche.
20. A. Stating that this is probably the only concern the adolescent has and telling the parents not to worry about it or the time her spends on it shuts off further investigation and is likely to make the adolescent and his parents feel defensive. The statement about peer acceptance and time spent in front of the mirror for the development of self image provides information about the adolescent’s needs to the parents and may help to gain trust with the adolescent. Asking the adolescent how he feels about the acne will encourage the adolescent to share his feelings. Discussing the cleansing method shows interest and concern for the adolescent and also can help to identify any patient-teaching needs for the adolescent regarding cleansing.
21. B. Preschoolers should be developmentally incapable of demonstrating explicit sexual behavior. If a child does so, the child has been exposed to such behavior, and sexual abuse should be suspected. Explicit sexual behavior during doll play is not a characteristic of preschool development nor symptomatic of developmental delay. Whether or nor the child knows how to play with dolls is irrelevant.
22. A. The parents need more teaching if they state that they will keep the child home until the phobia subsides. Doing so reinforces the child’s feelings of worthlessness and dependency. The child should attend school even during resolution of the problem. Allowing the child to verbalize helps the child to ventilate feelings and may help to uncover causes and solutions. Collaboration with the teachers and counselors at school may lead to uncovering the cause of the phobia and to the development of solutions. The child should participate and play an active role in developing possible solutions.
23. C. The adolescent who becomes pregnant typically denies the pregnancy early on. Early recognition by a parent or health care provider may be crucial to timely initiation of prenatal care. The incidence of adolescent pregnancy has declined since 1991, yet morbidity remains high. Most teenage pregnancies are unplanned and occur out of wedlock. The pregnant adolescent is at high risk for physical complications including premature labor and low-birth-weight infants, high neonatal mortality, iron deficiency anemia, prolonged labor, and fetopelvic disproportion as well as numerous psychological crises.
24. B. Because of the structural defect, children with cleft palate may have ineffective functioning of their Eustachian tubes creating frequent bouts of otitis media. Most children with cleft palate remain well-nourished and maintain adequate nutrition through the use of proper feeding techniques. Food particles do not pass through the cleft and into the Eustachian tubes. There is no association between cleft palate and congenial ear deformities.
25. D. A 3-month-old infant should be able to lift the head and chest when prone. The Moro reflex typically diminishes or subsides by 3 months. The parachute reflex appears at 9 months. Rolling from front to back usually is accomplished at about 5 months.
26. D. A child’s birth weight usually triples by 12 months and doubles by 4 months. No specific birth weight parameters are established for 7 or 9 months.
27. C. Toddlers engaging in parallel play will play near each other, but not with each other. Thus, when two toddlers sit near each other but play with separate dolls, they are exhibiting parallel play. Sharing crayons, playing a board game with a nurse, or sharing dolls with two different nurses are all examples of cooperative play.
28. A. Acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) causes leukopenia, resulting in immunosuppression and increasing the risk of infection, a leading cause of death in children with ALL. Therefore, the initial priority nursing intervention would be to institute infection control precautions to decrease the risk of infection. Iron-rich foods help with anemia, but dietary iron is not an initial intervention. The prognosis of ALL usually is good. However, later on, the nurse may need to assist the child and family with coping since death and dying may still be an issue in need of discussion. Injections should be discouraged, owing to increased risk from bleeding due to thrombocytopenia.
29. A. The pertusis component may result in fever and the tetanus component may result in injection soreness. Therefore, the mother’s verbalization of information about measures to reduce fever indicates understanding. No dietary restrictions are necessary after this injection is given. A subsequent rash is more likely to be seen 5 to 10 days after receiving the MMR vaccine, not the diphtheria, pertussis, and tetanus vaccine. Diarrhea is not associated with this vaccine.
30. A. Multiple bruises and burns on a toddler are signs child abuse. Therefore, the nurse is responsible for reporting the case to Protective Services immediately to protect the child from further harm. Scheduling a follow-up visit is inappropriate because additional harm may come to the child if the nurse waits for further assessment data. Although the nurse should notify the physician, the goal is to initiate measures to protect the child’s safety. Notifying the physician immediately does not initiate the removal of the child from harm nor does it absolve the nurse from responsibility. Multiple bruises and burns are not normal toddler injuries.
31. B. The mother is using projection, the defense mechanism used when a person attributes his or her own undesirable traits to another. Displacement is the transfer of emotion onto an unrelated object, such as when the mother would kick a chair or bang the door shut. Repression is the submerging of painful ideas into the unconscious. Psychosis is a state of being out of touch with reality.
32. A. Children with congenital heart disease are more prone to respiratory infections. Bleeding tendencies, frequent vomiting, and diarrhea and seizure disorders are not associated with congenital heart disease.
33. D. The child is exhibiting classic signs of epiglottitis, always a pediatric emergency. The physician must be notified immediately and the nurse must be prepared for an emergency intubation or tracheostomy. Further assessment with auscultating lungs and placing the child in a mist tent wastes valuable time. The situation is a possible life-threatening emergency. Having the child lie down would cause additional distress and may result in respiratory arrest. Throat examination may result in laryngospasm that could be fatal.
34. A. In females, the urethra is shorter than in males. This decreases the distance for organisms to travel, thereby increasing the chance of the child developing a urinary tract infection. Frequent emptying of the bladder would help to decrease urinary tract infections by avoiding sphincter stress. Increased fluid intake enables the bladder to be cleared more frequently, thus helping to prevent urinary tract infections. The intake of acidic juices helps to keep the urine pH acidic and thus decrease the chance of flora development.
35. B. Compartment syndrome is an emergent situation and the physician needs to be notified immediately so that interventions can be initiated to relieve the increasing pressure and restore circulation. Acetaminophen (Tylenol) will be ineffective since the pain is related to the increasing pressure and tissue ischemia. The cast, not traction, is being used in this situation for immobilization, so releasing the traction would be inappropriate. In this situation, specific action not continued monitoring is indicated.
36. D. The varicella zoster vaccine (VZV) is a live vaccine given after age 12 months. The first dose of hepatitis B vaccine is given at birth to 2 months, then at 1 to 4 months, and then again at 6 to 18 months. DtaP is routinely given at 2, 4, 6, and 15 to 18 months and a booster at 4 to 6 years.
37. C. Because the 8-month-old is refining his gross motor skills, being able to sit unsupported and also improving his fine motor skills, probably capable of making hand-to-hand transfers, large blocks would be the most appropriate toy selection. Push-pull toys would be more appropriate for the 10 to 12-month-old as he or she begins to cruise the environment. Rattles and mobiles are more appropriate for infants in the 1 to 3 month age range. Mobiles pose a danger to older infants because of possible strangulation.
38. B. During the preschool period, the child has mastered a sense of autonomy and goes on to master a sense of initiative. During this period, the child commonly experiences more fears than at any other time. One common fear is fear of the body mutilation, especially associated with painful experiences. The preschool child uses simple, not complex, reasoning, engages in associative, not competitive, play (interactive and cooperative play with sharing), and is able to tolerate longer periods of delayed gratification.
39. A. Mild mental retardation refers to development disability involving an IQ 50 to 70. Typically, the child is not noted as being retarded, but exhibits slowness in performing tasks, such as self-feeding, walking, and taking. Little or no speech, marked motor delays, and gait disabilities would be seen in more severe forms mental retardation.
40. B. Down syndrome is characterized by the following a transverse palmar crease (simian crease), separated sagittal suture, oblique palpebral fissures, small nose, depressed nasal bridge, high-arched palate, excess and lax skin, wide spacing and plantar crease between the second and big toes, hyperextensible and lax joints, large protruding tongue, and muscle weakness.
41. A. Because of the defect, the child will be unable to from the mouth adequately around nipple, thereby requiring special devices to allow for feeding and sucking gratification. Respiratory status may be compromised if the child is fed improperly or during postoperative period, Locomotion would be a problem for the older infant because of the use of restraints. GI functioning is not compromised in the child with a cleft lip.
42. B. Postoperatively children with cleft palate should be placed on their abdomens to facilitate drainage. If the child is placed in the supine position, he or she may aspirate. Using an infant seat does not facilitate drainage. Side-lying does not facilitate drainage as well as the prone position.
43. C. Projectile vomiting is a key symptom of pyloric stenosis. Regurgitation is seen more commonly with GER. Steatorrhea occurs in malabsorption disorders such as celiac disease. “Currant jelly” stools are characteristic of intussusception.
44. D. GER is the backflow of gastric contents into the esophagus resulting from relaxation or incompetence of the lower esophageal (cardiac) sphincter. No alteration in the oral mucous membranes occurs with this disorder. Fluid volume deficit, risk for aspiration, and altered nutrition are appropriate nursing diagnoses.
45. A. Thickened feedings are used with GER to stop the vomiting. Therefore, the nurse would monitor the child’s vomiting to evaluate the effectiveness of using the thickened feedings. No relationship exists between feedings and characteristics of stools and uterine. If feedings are ineffective, this should be noted before there is any change in the child’s weight.
46. C. Children with celiac disease cannot tolerate or digest gluten. Therefore, because of its gluten content, wheat and wheat-containing products must be avoided. Rice, milk, and chicken do not contain gluten and need not be avoided.
47. C. Episodes of celiac crises are precipitated by infections, ingestion of gluten, prolonged fasting, or exposure to anticholinergic drugs. Celiac crisis is typically characterized by severe watery diarrhea. Respiratory distress is unlikely in a routine upper respiratory infection. Irritability, rather than lethargy, is more likely. Because of the fluid loss associated with the severe watery diarrhea, the child’s weight is more likely to be decreased.
48. A. For the child with Hirschsprung disease, fever and explosive diarrhea indicate enterocolitis, a life-threatening situation. Therefore, the physician should be notified immediately. Generally, because of the intestinal obstruction and inadequate propulsive intestinal movement, antidiarrheals are not used to treat Hirschsprung disease. The child is acutely ill and requires intervention, with monitoring more frequently than every 30 minutes. Hirschsprung disease typically presents with chronic constipation.
49. A. Failure to pass meconium within the first 24 hours after birth may be an indication of Hirschsprung disease, a congenital anomaly resulting in mechanical obstruction due to inadequate motility in an intestinal segment. Failure to pass meconium is not associated with celiac disease, intussusception, or abdominal wall defect.
50. C. Because intussusception is not believed to have a familial tendency, obtaining a family history would provide the least amount of information. Stool inspection, pain pattern, and abdominal palpation would reveal possible indicators of intussusception. Current, jelly-like stools containing blood and mucus are an indication of intussusception. Acute, episodic abdominal pain is characteristics of intussusception. A sausage-shaped mass may be palpated in the right upper quadrant.