Stupid Question about Traction - Please help :(

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Hello everyone,

I am having a debate in my mind about traction, I know that by book says- do not TOUCH: lift, remove, realign whatever the traction w/o physician's order.

I know that that in NCLEX exam you will always assume that there is an order to implementation whether if its drugs or whaterver (correct me if i am wrong) ... so, in the exam if something happens to the traction, like its on the floor or hanging above or below the prescribed level can i touch the traction or NEVER or call physician which will probably makes me think I am passing the buck to HCP which a no no in the exam right?? .. I haven't tried getting a practice question of this so i would like to know, i just thought about this because I am in the middle of reading about tractions and this came up in my mind.. please help and advice:( thank you!

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Not a stupid question at all.

Depends on if it's skin or skeletal traction. I can't answer your question completely because I'm not 100% sure, but I do know that you never ever remove the weights from skeletal traction. Also, calling the doctor is sometimes the best answer.

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Not a stupid question at all.

Depends on if it's skin or skeletal traction. I can't answer your question completely because I'm not 100% sure, but I do know that you never ever remove the weights from skeletal traction. Also, calling the doctor is sometimes the best answer.

Thank you so much, i appreciate your advice.

I am thinking about the skeletal traction. I was wondering what would you first do if the weights in the traction fall off the floor? ... my book didn't say anything about this like what if it fell off questions and it just says that dont lift or remove weights w/o physician prescription..

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I don't have much experience with traction and I don't recall learning what to do in that situation either. I tried searching for the answer, but to no avail so now I'm curious lol

I guess what I would do first is to assess the patients position in the bed, did s/he slide down in bed, is the rope broken, knotted etc. and then go from there.

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I had a similar practice question in Kaplan, and the answer was call the physician. I also had a SATA question of what to do for a patient in skeletal traction: have them dorsiflex, turn every two hours, back care three times a day and remove the boot to observe skin. Hope this helps!:)

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I will try to find the exact questions and post them for you!

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I may be mistaken, but I think allnurses doesn't want you posting actual questions as they are copyrighted.

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I had a similar practice question in Kaplan, and the answer was call the physician. I also had a SATA question of what to do for a patient in skeletal traction: have them dorsiflex, turn every two hours, back care three times a day and remove the boot to observe skin. Hope this helps!:)

Thank you so much!! this is a great help already.. I appreciate it alot! .. who knows if this will pop up when i take the exam!... *sigh* :(

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I had a similar practice question in Kaplan, and the answer was call the physician. I also had a SATA question of what to do for a patient in skeletal traction: have them dorsiflex, turn every two hours, back care three times a day and remove the boot to observe skin. Hope this helps!happy.png

Thank you so much!! this is a great help already.. I appreciate it alot! .. who knows if this will pop up when i take the exam!... *sigh* :(

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