How this exercise works
Read the clinical scenario and choose the first nursing action. Use ABC order, airway and breathing emergencies before circulation issues, then less urgent needs.
Fundamental concept
Selecting the first nursing action by addressing airway, breathing, and circulation threats before lesser urgent needs.
Read: ABC Prioritization for NCLEX-PN →Scenario
A client with heart failure returns from the bathroom pale, diaphoretic, and gasping. You hear coarse crackles bilaterally, SpO₂ is 84% on 2 L nasal cannula, and the client says, "I cannot catch my breath."
A client with heart failure returns from the bathroom pale, diaphoretic, and gasping. You hear coarse crackles bilaterally, SpO₂ is 84% on 2 L nasal cannula, and the client says, "I cannot catch my breath."
What is the priority nursing action?
