Chapter 14: Ear Assessment for Advanced and Specialty Practice

The eustachian tube is a passage between the middle ear and the nasopharynx. What is the function of the eustachian tube?

A. Helps to regulate pressure in the middle ear

What components of sound does the cochlea interpret? (Select all that apply.)

C. Amplitude

E. Frequency

When assessing the tympanic membrane, where would the nurse expect to visualize the malleus?

C. Near the center

When reviewing ear assessment, a student nurse would learn that the cone of light should be visible where on the tympanic membrane?

D. Anterior inferior quadrant

A nurse practitioner is working in a clinic with a client who reports that drainage from her ear is no better despite finishing three courses of prescribed antibiotics. After reviewing the client's records, what would be the nurse's most appropriate action?

B. Refer the client to an otolaryngologist

When assessing the client's risk for hearing loss, it is important to ask about the history of exposure to noise. What related client teaching would be important? (Select all that apply.)

B. Types of protective equipment used

C. Instructions for the use of protective ear equipment

E. Effectiveness of protective equipment

When providing client teaching about the ears, what should the nurse be sure to include?

A. How the client cleans the ears

An objective assessment of a client's ears reveals small, painless nodules on the left helix. How would the nurse note this finding in the client's medical record?

B. Left external ear within normal limits

A nurse is preparing to perform a general assessment of an adult client who is new to the clinic. How would the nurse prepare to obtain objective data about the client's ears? (Select all that apply.)

A. Have the client sit on the examination table

C. Make sure the client is comfortable in a quiet room

D. Perform the whisper, Weber, and Rinne tests before inspection

E. Place the client's ears at the nurse's eye level

While performing an otoscopic examination of a client's ear, the nurse finds white patches on the tympanic membrane. How would the nurse note this finding in the chart?

C. Tympanic membrane visualized with areas of sclerosis noted.

The nursing instructor is discussing ear problems. What would the instructor indicate is an abnormal finding?

A. Tenderness of the mastoid process

A nurse practitioner is assessing the tympanic membrane of a client who has come to the clinic. What would the nurse practitioner expect to visualize if the client has a normal otoscopic evaluation?

B. The short process of the malleus

Student nurses are spending time in the laboratory learning the proper use of an otoscope. What technique would these students learn for best visualization of the tympanic membrane in an adolescent?

D. Hold the ear at the helix and lift up and back

A nurse is admitting a client to the hospital. When reviewing the client's medical record, the nurse notes that this client had abnormal findings during the Weber test. What would the nurse know this means?

A. The client has unilateral hearing loss

The nurse practitioner is assessing the tympanic membrane of a client. Once the tympanic membrane has been visualized, the nurse practitioner uses the bulb insufflator to observe the movement of the tympanic membrane. When forcing air into the ear canal, what would the nurse practitioner expect to note?

B. Positive pressure pushing down the tympanic membrane

A client comes to the Emergency Department with excruciating pain in the left ear. On assessment, the nurse notes that the client experiences extreme pain during palpation of the tragus. Which factor would the nurse suspect has triggered the pain?

B. Furuncle

A nurse practitioner is assessing the ears of a toddler who has had tympanostomy tubes in place for 6 months. Where in the tympanic membrane would the nurse practitioner expect to find the tympanostomy tubes?

A. Inferior portion

An older adult client presents at the clinic, reporting otalgia in the right ear. Physical assessment reveals cerumen impacted in the client's ear. Removing this mechanical blockage may have what outcome for this client? (Select all that apply.)

C. Improve hearing

D. Enhance socialization

E. Prevent injury

A client reports, "I feel like the whole room is spinning around me, and it makes me nauseous sometimes." What term should the nurse use to document the client's symptom?

C. Vertigo

A client presents to the primary care provider's office reporting right ear pain otorrhea. What does the nurse suspect?

A. infection