Before assisting a patient with ambulation 2 days after a total hip replacement, which action is most important for the nurse to take?
a. Observe the status of the incisional drain device.
b. Administer the ordered oral opioid pain medication.
c. Instruct the patient about the benefits of ambulation.
d. Change the hip dressing and document the wound appearance.
ANS: B
The patient should be adequately medicated for pain before any attempt to ambulate. Instructions about the benefits of ambulation may increase the patient's willingness to ambulate, but decreasing pain with ambulation is more important. The presence of an incisional drain or timing of dressing change will not affect ambulation.
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