Answer:
Option B, standing up
Explanation:
Orthostatic hypotension is the occurrence in which a person's blood pressure experiences a significant decrease with positional changes, specifically when the patient sits down or stands up. As a result, patients can become lightheaded, dizzy, confused, or they experience syncope (fainting).
Because of how it occurs, the nurse should have the patient stand up, option B, to check for orthostatic hypotension.
The nurse would have the patient engage in standing up to check for orthostatic hypotension, which tests the cardiovascular system's response to positional changes and may lead to symptoms like dizziness due to reduced cerebral blood flow (option b).
When checking for orthostatic hypotension, the activity that the nurse would have the patient engage in is standing up from a sitting or lying position. This is to test the body's cardiovascular response to positional changes and to assess whether blood pressure falls significantly when a person stands, which may lead to feeling dizzy or lightheaded due to insufficient blood flow to the brain.
Orthostatic hypotension occurs when there is a failure in the homeostatic mechanism that regulates blood pressure, often due to low blood volume or ineffective sympathetic reflexes. The condition can be caused by various factors, including dehydration, certain medications, or an underlying health issue. If the sympathetic system fails to increase cardiac output adequately upon standing, blood pressure can drop below the necessary level for maintaining cerebral perfusion, resulting in symptoms. Hence, the correct option is b.
