A nurse is teaching a client with malabsorption syndrome about the disorder and its treatment. The client asks which part of the GI tract absorbs food. What is the nurse's best response? - rectum - large intestine - small intestine - stomach - - small intestine A nurse is preparing a client with Crohn's disease for a barium enema. What should the nurse do the day before the test? - Serve dairy products. - Serve the client his usual diet. - Order a high-fiber diet. - Encourage plenty of fluids. - - Encourage plenty of fluids. The nurse determines which is a true statement regarding older clients, considering the age-related effects on their GI system? - They tend usually to have less control of the rectal sphincter. - They tend to have higher physiologic reserves to compensate for fluid loss. - They tend to have increased muscle tone and mass. - They have no awareness of the filling reflex. - - They tend usually to have less control of the rectal sphincter. The nurse determines one or two bowel sounds in 2 minutes should be documented as - hyperactive. - absent. - normal. - hypoactive. - - hypoactive. After 20 seconds of auscultating for bowel sounds on a client recovering from abdominal surgery, the nurse hears nothing. What should the nurse do based on the assessment findings? - Listen longer for the sounds. - Document that the client is constipated. - Call the health care provider to report absent bowel sounds. - Return in 1 hour and listen again to confirm findings. - - Listen longer for the sounds. The nurse is preparing the client for an assessment of the abdomen. What should the nurse complete prior to this assessment? - Dim the lights for privacy. - Prepare for a prostate examination. - Ask the client to empty the bladder. - Assist the client to a Fowler's position. - - Ask the client to empty the bladder. A client is to have an upper GI procedure with barium ingestion and abdominal ultrasonography. While scheduling these diagnostic tests, the nurse must consider which factor? - The ultrasonography should be scheduled before the GI procedure. - Both tests need to be done before breakfast. - The upper GI should be scheduled before the ultrasonography. - The client may eat a light meal before either test. - - The ultrasonography should be scheduled before the GI procedure. The nurse asks a client to point to where pain is felt. The client asks why this is important. What is the nurse's best response? - "If the health care provider massages over the exact painful area, the pain will disappear." - "This determines the pain medication to be ordered." - "Often the area of pain is referred from another area." - "The area may determine the severity of the pain." - - "Often the area of pain is referred from another area." A nurse is giving a client barium swallow test. What is the most important assessment a nurse would make to ensure that a client does not retain any barium after a barium swallow? - Placing any stool passed in a specific preservative. - Observing the color of urine. - Monitoring the volume of urine. - Monitoring the stool passage and its color. - - Monitoring the stool passage and its color. A client is scheduled for several diagnostic tests to evaluate gastrointestinal function. After teaching the client about these tests, the nurse determines that the client has understood the teaching when the client identifies which test as not requiring the use of a contrast medium? - Colonoscopy - Computer tomography - Upper GI series - Small bowel series - - Colonoscopy Which of the following digestive enzymes aids in the digesting of starch? - Trypsin - Amylase - Bile - Lipase - - Amylase Which of the following is the primary function of the small intestine? - Absorption