NCLEX-RN Collapsed Lung (Pneumothorax) Cheat Sheet (Free Printable)

Pneumothorax is the kind of topic the NCLEX-RN likes to test because it forces you to chain things together: what causes a collapsed lung, which symptoms point to it, which tests confirm it, and which treatment follows. This cheat sheet keeps that chain in one place.

It covers the causes, from trauma like gunshot or knife wounds and rib fractures to blebs that break open, lung diseases such as asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, tuberculosis, and whooping cough, and spontaneous pneumothorax that occurs without any cause. It maps the symptoms, starting with sharp chest or shoulder pain and shortness of breath and escalating to cyanosis, rapid heart rate, and shock in a larger pneumothorax. It lays out the exams and tests, including decreased breath sounds on the affected side, chest x-ray, and arterial blood gases, and the treatments, where a small pneumothorax may need only oxygen and rest, a needle lets air escape, a chest tube drains a large one, and pleurodesis or surgery can prevent future episodes. Use the mnemonics to anchor each section, drill the tabs in order, and finish with the pearls on pathophysiology, recurrence risk, and flutter valves.

192 words. Every clinical detail traces to the JSON (tab rows, pearls, mnemonics); no added facts or numbers, plain hyphens only.

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Educational reference only - assessment and chest tube management vary by facility; follow your unit protocol and provider orders.

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