Author Question: The nurse is performing a pain assessment when the older adult patient reports pain in his left ... (Read 142 times)

armygirl · **on:** Jul 11, 2018

The nurse is performing a pain assessment when the older adult patient reports pain in his left shoulder that radiates down into the forearm. The nurse immediately

a. recognizes that the patient is experiencing cardiac distress.
b. alerts the rapid response team to provide emergency care.
c. asks whether he has ever experienced this pain before.
d. questions the patient about additional re-lated symptoms.

Question 2

The nurse is caring for an older patient who recently immigrated to the United States from Asi

a. To best address the patient's apparent resistance to the medical and nursing plan of care, the nurse:
a. discusses the patient's behavior with Asian staff members.
b. researches the patient's cultural views on health care.
c. requests a cultural consultation from social services.
d. asks family members to discuss the pa-tient's views on health care.

trog · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 11, 2018

Answer to Question 1

C
Assessment is essential in differentiating acute life-threatening pain from longstanding chronic pain. Otherwise, disease progression and acute injury may go unrecognized and be attributed to preexisting disease or illness. The patient may or may not be experiencing cardiac ischemia, the rapid response team does not need to be called, and the nurse can assess for other symptoms after determining if this pain is new or not.

Answer to Question 2

D
Concepts of health and illness are deeply rooted in culture, race, and ethnicity and influence an individual's (and family's) illness perceptions and health and illness behavior. The patient's fam-ily should have the best insight into the patient's culturally biased beliefs. Discussing behavior with other staff members might be a privacy violation. Researching culture may be helpful, but each patient is an individual and should not be stereotyped. Social services may or may not be able to provide cultural services.