A patient with a history of anger and impulsivity was hospitalized after an accident resulting in injuries. When in pain, the patient loudly scolded nursing staff for "not knowing enough to give me pain medicine when I need it."
Which nursing intervention would best address this problem?
a. Teach the patient to use coping strategies such as deep breathing and progressive relaxation to reduce the pain.
b. Talk with the health care provider about changing the pain medication from PRN to patient-controlled analgesia.
c. Tell the patient that verbal assaults on nurses will not shorten the wait for analgesic medication.
d. Talk with the patient about the risks of dependency associated with overuse of analgesic medication.
ANS: B
Use of patient-controlled analgesia will help the patient manage the pain. This intervention will help reduce the patient's anxiety and anger. Dependency is not an important concern related to acute pain.
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