Atelectasis — NCLEX Cheat Sheet
Collapsed alveoli → ↓ gas exchange
👤 By the CinnaRN Clinical Content Team
🕐 Updated 2026-07-11
🏷️ Physiological Adaptation
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Use this quick-reference guide to spot, treat, and prevent Atelectasis on the NCLEX. Keep it handy during review and on exam day!
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- Post-op #1 → shallow breaths, mucus
- Mucus plug, tumor, foreign body
- Immobility, no deep breathing
- ↓ breath sounds, dull percussion
- Dyspnea, tachypnea, ↓ SpO2
- Tracheal shift toward collapse
- Incentive spirometer q1-2h awake
- Cough, deep breathe, early ambulate
- Reposition q2h, splint incision
- Worsening hypoxia despite O2
- Fever → possible pneumonia
✨Quick Tip
Diminished or absent breath sounds and crackles over the affected area are typical.
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