Author Question: A client with a history of chronic back pain is questioning the need to keep asking for pain ... (Read 81 times)

rmenurse · **on:** Jul 23, 2018

A client with a history of chronic back pain is questioning the need to keep asking for pain medication, fearing that he will be viewed as being weak by his family. The most therapeutic nursing response to this client would be:

1. Chronic back pain is very difficult to deal with; utilize the pain medication be-cause that's what it's there for.
2. Your family won't think you're weak; they want you to be comfortable, and the medication will help.
3. Taking the medication as prescribed will help you to be more active; your family will be happy you can do things with them again.
4. It's important that you manage your pain as effectively as possible; it really doesn't matter what other people think about you.

Question 2

The nurse recognizes that the most likely reason a runner who has injured his ankle during a race is not aware of it until after he crosses the finish line is that:

1. The emotional exhilaration of running the race masked the pain of the injury
2. His endorphin levels were high as a result of the physical stressors of the race
3. He was mentally distracted by the need to concentrate on the ever-changing na-ture of the race
4. The physical effects of the injury slowly increased during the race and reached pain-producing capacity only after the race

Eunice618 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 23, 2018

Answer to Question 1

ANS: 3
As a nurse, you encourage clients to accept pain-relieving measures so that they remain active. Clients who have a low pain tolerance (level of pain a person is willing to put up with) are some-times inaccurately perceived as whiners or weak. The client needs to learn that effective, appro-priate pain management is essential to his physical and emotional well-being. Although the re-maining options are not incorrect, they do not display the degree of understanding the answer does.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: 2
Stress, exercise, and other factors increase the release of endorphins, raising an individual's pain threshold (the point at which a person feels pain). Because the amount of circulating substances varies with each individual, the response to pain will be different. Although the other options may have affected his pain perception, they did not exert as much influence as the answer.