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A patient who has required prolonged mechanical ventilation has the following arterial blood gas results: pH 7.47, PaO2 85 mm Hg, PaCO2 30 mm Hg, and HCO3 25 mEq/L. The nurse interprets these results as
a. metabolic acidosis.
b. metabolic alkalosis.
c. respiratory acidosis.
d. respiratory alkalosis.
D, The pH indicates that the patient has alkalosis and the low PaCO2 indicates a respiratory cause. The other responses are incorrect based on the pH and the normal HCO3.