Sixteen-year-old Melody Carson is admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit after being a passenger in a car struck by a train. Two of her friends, also in the car, were killed in the accident. Melody is unconscious at this time. She also has a broken right femur, two broken ribs, and a fractured pelvis. (Learning Objectives 7 and 10)
A. What continuing assessments would the nurse focus on in caring for the neurologic injury Melody has sustained?
B. What complications would it be important for the nurse to assess Melody for?
C. What psychosocial implications could this injury have on Melody and her family as she enters rehabilitation?
