The nurse cares for several postoperative patients using patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pain management with a combination of an opioid and a local anesthetic agent on the first postopera-tive day. Which patient should the nurse assess first?
a. A patient after a bowel resection for re-current colon cancer
b. A patient after an internal fixation of an ankle fracture
c. A first-time hospitalized patient after am-putation of a leg
d. A patient with emphysema who had a lung tumor resection
C
The nurse assesses the patient with the amputation first. Since this is the patient's first hospitali-zation, it is unknown how he or she will react to the pain medications, and they can cause respi-ratory depression. The patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is probably the second patient the nurse assesses because the disease is pulmonary. If the patient hypoventi-lates because the pain is too great, he or she is likely to retain additional carbon dioxide, inade-quately oxygenate, and potentially have respiratory acidosis and respiratory failure. The other patients would be assessed as soon as possible.
You might also like to view...
The nurse is caring for a 12-year-old girl with nephrotic syndrome. The girl confides that she feels like a "freak" compared to her peers because of her weight, edema, and moon face. How should the nurse respond?
A) "Let's put you in touch with some other girls who are also having the same body changes." B) "Luckily, this is just a temporary, unfortunate part of your condition, and you need to accept it." C) "Your real friends do not care about your appearance and just want you to get well." D) "You are beautiful in your own way; what matters is the inside."
An elderly woman comes into the clinic complaining of feeling bad since yesterday. She tells you her husband gave her his medication for a headache. What is your response to this information?
1. "The cost of medication is high, so sharing is okay, since he has no problems." 2. "You both have the same heath problems, so sharing is alright." 3. "Monitoring the drug effect is better, since he also takes the medication." 4. "Taking his medication makes evaluating the effects of your medication harder."
The nurse caring for a client with septicemia plans care based on the nursing diagnosis of altered tissue perfusion. Which of the following interventions is the priority for this client?
1. Assess temperature every hour 2. Check peripheral pulses every hour 3. Monitor heart rate every hour 4. Monitor pupil reactions every hour
A nursing student asks the teacher, "How will health care be defined in the future?" The most appropriate response by the teacher is that "Ultimately, health care will be defined and controlled by:
a. the American Medical Association.". b. those wielding the most political influence.". c. consumer activists groups (e.g., AARP).". d. the National Institutes of Health.".