A nurse is caring for a drug addicted client who states that he is experiencing postoperative pain from a cholecystectomy. The client is requesting pain medication. The nurse should take which action next?
a. Withhold pain medication due to client's drug history.
b. Give client half of the physician ordered dose so that client won't become addicted again.
c. Question the client to see if he really has pain or is just drug seeking.
d. Assess the client and treat the client's current pain level regardless of previous history.
D
Critical thinking and problem solving requires an individual to put aside religion, political views, race, and anything that could cloud a solid unbiased judgment. Understanding the difficulty in being unbiased requires the nurse to remain objective and neutral when providing client care. For example, if a known recovering drug addict states he is experiencing pain post-operatively and requests pain medication, the nurse must remain unbiased and treat the client's current pain level regardless of his previous history.
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A nurse is implementing an intervention at both the primary and tertiary levels of prevention. Which of the following best describes the nursing intervention?
a. Providing emergency shelter housing b. Offering physical and mental health ser-vices c. Developing a targeted case management program d. Establishing a needle exchange program