The Aging Process

1. The sack that surrounds and protects the heart is called the 

a. pericardium. 

b. myocardium. 

c. endocardium. 

d. pleural space. 

2 . When assessing a newborn infant who is five minutes old the FNP knows that which of these statements would be true? 

a. The left ventricle is larger and weighs more than the right. 

b. The circulation of a newborn is identical to that of an adult. 

c. There is an opening in the atrial septum where blood can flow into the left side of the heart. 

d. The foramen ovale closes just minutes before birth and the ductus arteriosus closes immediately after. 

3 . The FNP is performing an assessment on an adult. The adults vital signs are normal and capillary refill is five seconds. What should the FNP do next?

a. ask the parent if the child has had frostbite in the past. 

b. suspect that the child has a venous insufficiency problem. 

c. consider this a delayed capillary refill time and investigate further. 

d. consider this a normal capillary refill time that requires no further assessment. 

4 .During an assessment of an older adult the FNP should expect to notice which finding as normal physiologic change associated with aging process? 

a. Hormonal changes causing vasodilation and a resulting drop in blood pressure 

b. Progressive atrophy of the intramuscular calf veins, causing venous insufficiency 

c. Peripheral blood vessels growing more rigid with age, producing a rise in systolic blood pressure 

d. Narrowing of the inferior vena cava, causing low blood flow and increases in venous pressure resulting in varicosities