Skip to ContentGo to accessibility page
Fundamentals of Nursing

What Should the Nurse Do?

Fundamentals of NursingWhat Should the Nurse Do?

What Should the Nurse Do?

1 .
Summer is a 48-year-old female who presents to a primary care clinic with concerns about her weight. She is noticing some weight gain, irritability, and changes in her menstrual cycle. She states, “I thought I still had a few more years before menopause.” How should the nurse respond?
2 .
A 25-year-old male presents to a visit to “get a medicine for ADHD.” As the nurse takes the health history, the patient reports up to seven hours per day using a computer or phone, primarily for gaming. He reports trouble concentrating and feels like he is just not motivated to do anything else. He is also having trouble falling asleep. How should the nurse respond?
3 .
Dacia is a 34-year-old single mom working full time as a restaurant server. Lately, she has been struggling with finances, interpersonal conflict with the father of her children, and mechanical car problems. She exercises daily and eats healthily but indulges in ice cream at night. She presents to a primary care clinic where Jessa works as a nurse. Dacia is worried about her heart and has wondered if she had a heart attack. She tells Jessa that she almost went to the emergency room the other night because her heart was racing, but she felt better after talking with her mom. What additional questions should the nurse elicit from Dacia?
4 .
Dacia explains that she had similar symptoms during her divorce five years ago. She states that she usually feels better after talking with her family. Her main symptoms are a racing heart, the sensation of fear, throat tightening, chest tightness, tingling in the cheeks, and dizziness. Jessa knows that Dacia’s symptoms are consistent with what mental health disorder?
5 .
During a routine wellness checkup for a 48-year-old female, the nurse noticed she had never had a mammogram. What is the best course of action for the nurse?
Citation/Attribution
Reuse and redistribution of this content in digital or print format:
  • This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's prior written permission.
  • This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License, which means that you can reuse and modify the material only for noncommercial purposes, must attribute OpenStax, and must distribute any derivative works under the same license.
  • Any commercial printing of this textbook, including using a local or custom printer, must be approved by OpenStax, and proper citation provided.
  • OpenStax-copyrighted images, activities, assessments, and similar components of this book are subject to the same licensing – CC-BY-NC-SA. They can be used for noncommercial purposes with attribution. Commercial use requires permission.
  • Permission requests: Anyone who intends to incorporate this content (including text, images, and other components) into large language models, use it in AI offerings, use it commercially (including in print), and/or has questions about another use case is welcome to complete our reuse request form.
Attribution information
  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/fundamentals-nursing/pages/1-introduction

  • If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a noncommercial digital format, then for every page that includes OpenStax content, you must license the derivative work under the same CC-BY-NC-SA license as the original, and include on every digital page view the following attribution:

    Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/fundamentals-nursing/pages/1-introduction

Citation information

The information below includes the information needed to generate citations in most major styles (APA, MLA, etc.); you must reformat and organize the information as needed to fit the requirements of the style. Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.

© Jul 23, 2026 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License. The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo, and Rice University name, and Rice University logo trademarks, or wordmarks are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.