When the postoperative patient refuses to cough due to incisional pain, the initial nursing action should be:
a. encouraging deep breathing instead of coughing.
b. splinting the abdomen with a pillow.
c. explaining the importance of controlled coughing.
d. giving pain medication.
B
Giving pain medication and explaining the importance of coughing may be effective, but the best initial action would be splinting the incision with a pillow. Deep breathing should be done in ad-dition to, not in place of, coughing.
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