The nurse is caring for a patient who is 1-day postoperative following a colon resection. The patient has degenerative joint disease and uses a pain medication patch to control this chronic pain. When planning care for this patient, the nurse:
a. anticipates that the pain medication patch will control the postoperative pain.
b. knows that this patient will most likely require more pain medication than most patients undergoing a colon resection.
c. realizes that the patient will be afraid to ask for additional pain medication for fear of being viewed as addicted to pain medi-cine.
d. expects the patient to forget about the pain caused from the degenerated joint disease.
B
Patients who are being treated for chronic pain often require higher doses of pain medication to treat postoperative pain. The patient's pain medication patch will not likely treat the postopera-tive pain. There is no indication that the patient will be afraid to ask for additional pain medica-tion, and the patient is not likely to forget about the postoperative pain.
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