A patient is seen resting quietly; however, when the nurse enters the room, the patient grimaces and asks for more pain medication. What should the nurse do?
1. Tell the patient that medication cannot be provided at this time and leave the room.
2. Assess the level of pain and provide the requested pain medication.
3. Confront the patient and ask about the sudden demonstration of pain.
4. Refuse the medication and document that the patient appears to be faking the need for pain medication.
2
Rationale 1: The nurse should not deny the patient pain medication.
Rationale 2: The behavioral dimension of pain states that responses to pain can be situational, developmental, or learned. Failure to respond to a patient's complaint of pain may lead to learned pain behaviors. The patient may have learned that without an open demonstration of pain, the complaint might be ignored. The nurse should assess the level of pain and provide the medication.
Rationale 3: There is no need to confront the patient about this behavior.
Rationale 4: The nurse should not document that the patient is faking pain.
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