Difficulty: Medium
Average Score: 64%
Full-length
Passage / Scenario
To evaluate possible laryngeal nerve injury following a thyroidectomy, the nurse on an hourly basis should:Ask the patient to speak.
Correct answer
A
Rationale
If the laryngeal nerves are injured bilaterally during surgery, the vocal cords will tighten, interfering with speech. If one cord is affected, hoarseness develops. This can be evaluated simply by having the patient speak every hour.