The nurse is caring for a shivering 66-year-old patient immediately after back surgery under general anesthesia. Which nursing intervention is most suitable for this patient?
a. Apply warm blankets to stop the shiver-ing.
b. Administer medication to relax the mus-cles.
c. Use a cooling mat to lower the body tem-perature.
d. Tell the patient that shivering is to be ex-pected after surgery.
A
To warm the patient, the nurse applies warm blankets or a warming device to eliminate shivering because shivering consumes massive amounts of oxygen in skeletal muscle. If the patient has a respiratory or cardiovascular problem, shivering potentially aggravates it significantly. Medication is not indicated for shivering unless it becomes unresolved. The nurse applies a cooling mat in the postanesthesia care unit (PACU) to the patient with an elevated body temperature from infection or from malignant hyperthermia to save the patient's life and vital organs. Shivering is much more common than malignant hyperthermia, which has a very high fatality rate; most patients die from malignant hyperthermia in the operating room. Telling the patient that this is expected does nothing to relieve the shivering.
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What will be an ideal response?
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