Fundamentals of Nursing Q 572
A family member asks you, “Why can’t you give more medicine? He is still having a lot of pain.” What is your best response?
A. “The doctor ordered the medicine to be given every 4 hours.”
B. “If the medication is given too frequently he could suffer ill effects.”
C. “Please tell him that I will be right there to check on him.”
D. “Let’s wait about 30-40 minutes. If there is no relief I’ll call the doctor.”
Correct Answer: C. “Please tell him that I will be right there to check on him.”
Directly ask the client about the pain and do a complete pain assessment. This information will determine which action to take next. Pain assessment is critical to optimal pain management interventions. While pain is a highly subjective experience, its management necessitates objective standards of care.
Option A: Poorly managing pain may put clinicians at risk for legal action. Current standards for pain management, such as the national standards outlined by the Joint Commission (formerly known as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, JCAHO), require that pain is promptly addressed and managed.
Option B: Continuous, unrelieved pain also affects the psychological state of the patient and family members. Common psychological responses to pain include anxiety and depression. The inability to escape from pain may create a sense of helplessness and even hopelessness, which may predispose the patient to more chronic depression.
Option D: Inadequately managed pain can lead to adverse physical and psychological patient outcomes for individual patients and their families. Continuous, unrelieved pain activates the pituitary-adrenal axis, which can suppress the immune system and result in postsurgical infection and poor wound healing.