A nurse is providing discharge teaching for a patient with a fractured humerus. The patient is going home with Vicodin (5/325). What important patient education does the nurse provide?
a. "Be sure to eat a meal high in fat before taking the medication, to avoid a stomach ulcer."
b. "Narcotics can be addictive, so do not take them unless you are in severe pain."
c. "You need to drink plenty of fluids and eat a diet high in fiber."
d. "As your pain severity lessens, you will begin to give yourself once-daily intramuscular injections."
C
A common side effect of opioid analgesics is constipation. Therefore, the nurse encourages the patient to drink fluids and eat fiber to prevent constipation. Although medications can be irritating to the stomach, eating a diet high in fat does not prevent gastric ulcers. To best manage pain, the patient needs to take pain medication before painful procedures or activities or before pain becomes severe. As the patient's pain gets better, the strength of the medications will decrease. IM, IV, and topical analgesics are used for more severe and chronic pain.
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A nurse suspects that a client with a venipuncture is developing an infection. Which of the following interventions should the nurse take to ensure that the client will remain free of infection?
A) Provide the client with plenty of fluids and antibiotics. B) Maintain a low temperature and humid atmosphere in the client's room. C) Elevate the client's extremity and massaging the infected area thoroughly. D) Elevate the client's extremity and applying warm compresses.
Which of the following statements made by the charge nurse indicates appropriate delegation? (Select all that apply.)
a. The LPN can delegate dressing changes to the nursing assistant. b. The LPN can administer a DPT immuni-zation to a child. c. The LPN can add a dose of Bleomycin to an existing IV infusion. d. The nursing assistant can transfer a pa-raplegic patient from a wheelchair to the bed using a lift, as long as the nursing as-sistant has received training and demon-strated competency. e. The nursing assistant can assess vital signs on a patient 15 minutes after the transfusion has been started.
The nursing student knows that the mental health professionals who focus on the biochemical treatment of mental illness are:
A) Oncologists. B) Psychiatrists. C) Psychologists. D) Social workers.
The nurse assigned to an oncology unit reports that three of the patients with cancer do not have an appetite and have eaten little during the shift. What strategies can the nurse on the next shift use to increase her patients' appetites?
Select all that apply. a. Offer frequent, smaller meals. b. Keep the patients' rooms neat and clean. c. Provide or assist with frequent oral hygiene. d. Increase liquid intake with meals. e. Serve foods with little aroma.