The client is a 65-year-old individual with a history of opioid drug abuse, alcoholism, and diabetes and developed an infection in his lower right leg resulting in amputation below the knee. The client is 24-hours postoperative and requesting pain medication. The previous nurse reported that, during shift-to-shift handoff, the client had been reporting little pain and therefore received acetaminophen for pain management. The client reports to you severe pain that has not been relieved since the day of the surgery and is requesting opioid pain medication. The nurse assesses the pain and finds the client is reluctant to move in bed, refuses to sit on the edge of the bed due to the pain, and reports 10/10 on the numeric pain scale. As the nurse assesses the surgical area, the client grimaces. The surgical dressing is intact with mild swelling of the extremity and a scant amount of bright red drainage visible on the dressing. The nurse encourages nonpharmacologic pain medication, such as positioning and distraction, until the opioid medication can be prepared and administered. 1.What are the subjective and objective signs of pain in this scenario? 2.What might be the etiology of this client's pain now opposed to what he reported to the previous nurse? 3.Identify two priority problems in caring for this client. 4.What nonpharmacological pain relief measures should the nurse perform? What is the potential impact if the nurse does not effectively treat the client’s pain?
The client is a 65-year-old individual with a history of opioid drug abuse, alcoholism, and diabetes and developed an infection in his lower right leg resulting in amputation below the knee. The client is 24-hours postoperative and requesting pain medication. The previous nurse reported that, during shift-to-shift handoff, the client had been reporting little pain and therefore received acetaminophen for pain management. The client reports to you severe pain that has not been relieved since the day of the surgery and is requesting opioid pain medication. The nurse assesses the pain and finds the client is reluctant to move in bed, refuses to sit on the edge of the bed due to the pain, and reports 10/10 on the numeric pain scale. As the nurse assesses the surgical area, the client grimaces. The surgical dressing is intact with mild swelling of the extremity and a scant amount of bright red drainage visible on the dressing. The nurse encourages nonpharmacologic pain medication, such as positioning and distraction, until the opioid medication can be prepared and administered.
1.What are the subjective and objective signs of pain in this scenario?
2.What might be the etiology of this client's pain now opposed to what he reported to the previous nurse?
3.Identify two priority problems in caring for this client.
4.What nonpharmacological pain relief measures should the nurse perform?
- What is the potential impact if the nurse does not effectively treat the client’s pain?
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