An hour after a thoracotomy, a patient complains of incisional pain at a level 7 (based on 0 to 10 scale) and has decreased left-sided breath sounds. The pleural drainage system has 100 mL of bloody drainage and a large air leak.
Which action is best for the nurse to take next?
a. Milk the chest tube gently to remove any clots.
b. Clamp the chest tube momentarily to check for the origin of the air leak.
c. Assist the patient to deep breathe, cough, and use the incentive spirometer.
d. Set up the patient controlled analgesia (PCA) and administer the loading dose of morphine.
Question 2
A lobectomy is scheduled for a patient with stage I nonsmall cell lung cancer. The patient tells the nurse, I would rather have chemotherapy than surgery. Which response by the nurse is most appropriate?
a. Are you afraid that the surgery will be very painful?
b. Did you have bad experiences with previous surgeries?
c. Surgery is the treatment of choice for stage I lung cancer.
d. Tell me what you know about the various treatments available.
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