NCLEX Examination.
practice Question # 685.
NCLEX Quiz
Casts ( NCLEX Review)
Description:
Plaster or fiberglass casts are used to immobilize bones and joints into correct alignment after a fracture or injury.
Interventions
- Keep the cast and extremity elevated.
- Allow a wet plaster cast 24 to 72 hours to dry (synthetic casts dry in 20 minutes).
- Handle a wet plaster cast with the palms of the hands until dry.
- Turn the extremity every 1 to 2 hours, unless contraindicated, to allow air circulation and promote drying of the cast.
- Ahair dryer canbe usedon a cool setting todry a plaster cast (heat cannot beusedonaplaster cast because the cast heats up and burns the skin).
- Prepare for bivalving or cutting the cast if circulatory impairment occurs.
- Petal the cast or apply moleskin to the edges to protect the client’s skin; maintain smooth edges around the cast to prevent crumbling of the cast material.
- Monitor for signs of infection such as increased temperature, hot spots on the cast, foul odor, or changes in pain.
- If an open draining area exists on the affected extremity, the physician will make a cutout portion of the cast known as a window.
- Instruct the client not to stick objects inside the cast.
- Teach the client to keep the cast clean and dry.
- Instruct the client in isometric exercises to prevent muscle atrophy.
