The nurse knows that such abdominal emergencies as obstruction, perforation, and acute intractable hemorrhage are typically treated by:

The nurse understands that bowel obstruction occurs most commonly in extremely young and old patients and that the hallmark signs and symptoms include:

When a patient is undergoing emergency endoscopy, the nurse should assess for all of the following potential complications except:

Which condition is the primary cause of large-bowel obstruction in an adult?

A 74-year-old man is brought to the hospital by his nephew after complaining of severe abdominal cramping and swelling. He claims to have had a stomach virus for the past few days. His symptoms include nausea, anorexia, mild discomfort, and constipation. Within the last 12 hours, his pain has increased in intensity, and he has vomited small amounts of greenish liquid several times. The physician diagnoses his condition as a possible bowel obstruction. An appropriate nursing diagnosis for this patient would be:

The nurse has obtained the shift assignment on a medical-surgical floor. All clients are older adults except one 23-year-old with a bowel obstruction. The nurse knows which of the following to be true of the 23-year-old client?

The nurse is caring for a client with a bowel obstruction with a nasogastric tube that has been set to low wall intermittent suction for 3 days. The nurse should anticipate the development of which acid-base imbalance?

The nurse is caring for a client with abdominal pain who was just diagnosed with a small bowel obstruction (SBO). What is the next priority for the nurse?