The nurse is administering pain medications to clients in a ...

[Capo]

The nurse is administering pain medications to clients in a hospice program. Which of the following is a recommended guideline for this procedure?
 
  A) Try the highest dose of medication first.
  B) Do not increase dosages of narcotic drugs.
  C) Dosages of opiates should decrease quickly if discontinuing the medication.
  D) Correlate the medication to the client's report of pain intensity.

Question 2

A nurse is caring for a client with a contusion injury to his right eye. Which of the following signs would alert the nurse to a detached retina in this client?
 
  A) Severe eye pain
  B) Flashes of light
  C) Wavy lines
  D) Immediate loss of vision

[kjo;oj]

Answer to Question 1

D
Feedback:
The nurse should consider several points when administering medications to hospice clients, including the following: the appropriate dose, route, and interval of administration are carefully chosen; the lowest dose of medication is tried first; pain medications are chosen to correspond with the client's report of pain intensity; and the dose of a narcotic (opiate) may be aggressively increased, if necessary (called titration-up of the dose), and dosages of opiates should decrease slowly (tapering down) if the medication is to be changed.

Answer to Question 2

B
Feedback:
Signs and symptoms of a detached retina may occur suddenly or gradually. If a large part of the central retina is affected, vision loss is greater than if the outer edges are destroyed. The person may see flashes of light (flashers) or moving spots (floaters). Vision may be blurry, or it may seem as though a shade has been pulled over part of the vision. Usually no pain occurs with a detached retina.

[Capo]

TYSM

[elyse44]

Excellent