Trauma Nurse Core Course (TNCC) Practice Exam 2025 – All-in-One Guide to Master Your Exam Preparation!

After ensuring airway management in a trauma patient, the next step focuses on assessing breathing and ventilation. This step is critical because, while the airway must be secure for effective ventilation, it is essential to recognize how well the patient is breathing once the airway is established.

Assessing breathing involves checking for adequate respiratory effort, lung sounds, and observing for any signs of respiratory distress. It is crucial to ensure that oxygen is getting into the lungs and that carbon dioxide can be effectively exhaled. In a trauma scenario, a patient may have various injuries that can compromise respiration, such as pneumothorax or pulmonary contusions. Therefore, evaluating the effectiveness of breathing and ensuring adequate ventilation must follow airway management to identify any life-threatening conditions quickly.

Following assessments of breathing and ventilation, other assessments like circulation, conducting a secondary assessment, or administering pain relief can occur, but they come afterwards in the trauma assessment sequence to ensure that the most critical aspects of airway and breathing are prioritized first. This order aligns with the ABCDE approach (Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure) commonly used in trauma care, emphasizing the immediate need to establish and confirm adequate breathing after securing an airway.