How do respiratory airways open?

Apply a dressing over the wound and tape it on three sides.

RATIONALE: The nurse should immediately apply a dressing over the stab wound and tape it on three sides to allow air to escape and to prevent tension pneumothorax (which is more life-threatening than an open chest wound). Only after covering and taping the wound should the nurse draw blood for laboratory tests, assist with chest tube insertion, and start an I.V. line. CLIENT NEEDS CATEGORY: Physiological integrity CLIENT NEEDS SUBCATEGORY: Physiological adaptation COGNITIVE LEVEL: Application REFERENCE: Smeltzer, S.C., et al. Brunner & Suddarths Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing, 11th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008, p. 724.