Author Question: The nurse is caring for a cognitively impaired client who has experienced a painful procedure. The ... (Read 81 times)

littleanan · **on:** Jul 23, 2018

The nurse is caring for a cognitively impaired client who has experienced a painful procedure. The nurse is most effective in determining the client's pain medication needs when using which of the following assessment methods?

1. Medicating the client with the as-needed (prn) analgesic as often as ordered
2. Utilizing the pain face scale to assess the client's pain experience
3. Asking the client to rate his or her pain on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most severe pain
4. Observing the client's body movements and facial expressions for typical pain behaviors

Question 2

The nurse inquires of a postoperative client as to the need for pain medication. The client denies the need then but 30 minutes later reports, I am really in a lot of pain. Can you bring me my pain pill now?

The nurse recognizes that the most immediate need for client education is related to explaining that:
1. His oral medication will take approximately 30 minutes to affect his pain
2. There may be a need to administer his pain medication via the intravenous route
3. Pain medication is more effective if blood levels are maintained at a constant level
4. His pain will be more effectively managed if he reports a need for pain medica-tion while the pain is still tolerable

yifu223 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 23, 2018

Answer to Question 1

ANS: 4
Body movements and facial expressions that indicate pain include clenching the teeth, holding the painful part, bent posture, and grimaces. Some clients cry or moan, are restless, or make fre-quent requests of a nurse. You will soon learn to recognize patterns of behavior that reflect pain. This becomes especially important in clients who are unable to report their pain, such as the cog-nitively impaired. However, lack of pain expression does not necessarily mean that the client is not experiencing pain. The remaining options are not always as effective for the cognitively im-paired or reflect inappropriate use of analgesics.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: 4
Teach clients the importance of reporting their pain sooner rather than later because the pain is better managed while it is still tolerable. Medication routes do affect the amount of time it will take to feel relief, and blood levels are a factor in pain management as well. The answer address-es the most general and immediate educational need.