Final answer:
In pneumococcal pneumonia, a nurse should expect to find signs such as a productive cough with greenish sputum, elevated heart rate, hypoxemia, crackling sounds upon auscultation, increased tactile fremitus, and radiographic evidence of lung consolidation.
Step-by-step explanation:
A nurse performing an assessment on a client with pneumococcal pneumonia should anticipate several characteristic findings. Patients with pneumonia typically present with symptoms such as a productive cough, possibly with greenish sputum, an elevated heart rate, and detected hypoxemia which is a lower-than-normal level of oxygen in the blood. During auscultation the nurse may hear crackling sounds indicating the presence of fluid in the alveoli and potentially bronchial breath sounds near areas of consolidation.
Tactile fremitus may be increased over areas of pneumonia and a chest radiograph may show areas of consolidation appearing as opaque patches. Therefore, a hacking nonproductive cough is less likely and decreased tactile fremitus along with hyper-resonance are not anticipated findings as they are associated with conditions like pneumothorax or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) rather than pneumonia.