You have just received report on a 47-year-old woman who is coming to your unit from the emergency department with a severely broken leg

Question

You review her PRN medications and see that she has an NSAID (ibuprofen) ordered every 4 hours. If you wanted to implement preventive pain measures when the patient arrives to your unit, what would you do?
A) Check for allergies, use a pain scale to assess the patient's pain, and let the patient know ibuprofen is available every 4 hours if she needs it.
B) Do a complete assessment, and give pain medication based on the patient's report of pain.
C) Check for allergies, use a pain scale to assess the patient's pain, and offer the ibuprofen every 4 hours until the patient is discharged.
D) Provide medication as per patient request and offer relaxation techniques to promote comfort.

Answer 1

Ans: C
Feedback: One way preventive pain measures can be implemented is by using PRN medications on a more regular or scheduled basis to allow for more uniform pain control. Smaller drug doses of medication are needed with the preventive pain method when PRN medications are given around the clock. Options A and B are incorrect; letting the patient know ibuprofen is available every 4 hours if she needs it or when the patient reports pain is simply offering the medication PRN. Option D is incorrect; providing medication as per patient request is simply offering the medication PRN, although offering relaxation techniques to promote comfort would work well along with preventive pain measures.