Chapter 12 (pain)

The nurse is caring for a patient with metastatic bone cancer. The patient asks the nurse why he has had to keep getting larger doses of his pain medication, although they do not seem to affect him. What is the nurses best response? A) Over time you become more tolerant of the drug. B) You may have become immune to the effects of the drug. C) You may be developing a mild addiction to the drug. D) Your body absorbs less of the drug due to the cancer.

A

A patient is experiencing severe pain after suffering an electrical burn in a workplace accident. The nurse is applying knowledge of the pathophysiology of pain when planning this patients nursing care. What is the physiologic process by which noxious stimuli, such as burns, activate nociceptors? A) Transduction B) Transmission C) Perception D) Modulation

A

The home health nurse is developing a plan of care for a patient who will be managing his chronic pain at home. Using the nursing process, on which concepts should the nurse focus the patient teaching? A) Self-care and safety B) Autonomy and need C) Health promotion and exercise D) Dependence and health

A

The nurse caring for a 79-year-old man who has just returned to the medicalsurgical unit following surgery for a total knee replacement received report from the PACU. Part of the report had been passed on from the preoperative assessment where it was noted that he has been agitated in the past following opioid administration. What principle should guide the nurses management of the patients pain? A) The elderly may require lower doses of medication and are easily confused with new medications. B) The elderly may have altered absorption and metabolism, which prohibits the use of opioids. C) The elderly may be confused following surgery, which is an age-related phenomenon unrelated to the medication. D) The elderly may require a higher initial dose of pain medication followed by a tapered dose.

A

The nurse who is a member of the palliative care team is assessing a patient. The patient indicates that he has been saving his PRN analgesics until the pain is intense because his pain control has been inadequate. What teaching should the nurse do with this patient? A) Medication should be taken when pain levels are low so the pain is easier to reduce. B) Pain medication can be increased when the pain becomes intense. C) It is difficult to control chronic pain, so this is an inevitable part of the disease process. D) The patient will likely benefit more from distraction than pharmacologic interventions.

A

Two patients on your unit have recently returned to the postsurgical unit after knee arthroplasty. One patient is reporting pain of 8 to 9 on a 0-to-10 pain scale, whereas the other patient is reporting a pain level of 3 to 4 on the same pain scale. What is the nurses most plausible rationale for understanding the patients different perceptions of pain? A) Endorphin levels may vary between patients, affecting the perception of pain. B) One of the patients is exaggerating his or her sense of pain. C) The patients are likely experiencing a variance in vasoconstriction. D) One of the patients may be experiencing opioid tolerance.

A

You are caring for a patient with sickle cell disease in her home. Over the years, there has been joint damage, and the patient is in chronic pain. The patient has developed a tolerance to her usual pain medication. When does the tolerance to pain medication become the most significant problem? A) When it results in inadequate relief from pain B) When dealing with withdrawal symptoms resulting from the tolerance C) When having to report the patients addiction to her physician D) When the family becomes concerned about increasing dosage

A

You are frequently assessing an 84-year-old womans pain after she suffered a humeral fracture in a fall. When applying the nursing process in pain management for a patient of this age, what principle should you best apply? A) Monitor for signs of drug toxicity due to a decrease in metabolism. B) Monitor for an increase in absorption of the drug due to age-related changes. C) Monitor for a paradoxical increase in pain with opioid administration. D) Administer analgesics every 4 to 6 hours as ordered to control pain.

A

You are the nurse caring for a postsurgical patient who is Asian-American who speaks very little English. How should you most accurately assess this patients pain? A) Use a chart with English on one side of the page and the patients native language on the other so he can rate his pain. B) Ask the patient to write down a number according to the 0-to-10 point pain scale. C) Use the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). D) Use the services of a translator each time you assess the patient so you can document the patients pain rating.

A

You are caring for a patient admitted to the medical-surgical unit after falling from a horse. The patient states I hurt so bad. I suffer from chronic pain anyway, and now it is so much worse. When planning the patients care, what variables should you consider? Select all that apply. A) How the presence of pain affects patients and families B) Resources that can assist the patient with pain management C) The influence of the patients cognition on her pain D) The advantages and disadvantages of available pain-relief strategies E) The difference between acute and intermittent pain

A, B, D

The wife of a patient you are caring for asks to speak with you. She tells you that she is concerned because her husband is requiring increasingly high doses of analgesia. She states, He was in pain long before he got cancer because he broke his back about 20 years ago. For that problem, though, his pain medicine wasnt just raised and raised. What would be the nurses best response? A) I didnt know that. I will speak to the doctor about your husbands pain control. B) Much cancer pain is caused by tumor involvement and needs to be treated in a way that brings the patient relief. C) Cancer is a chronic kind of pain so the more it hurts the patient, the more medicine we give the patient until it no longer hurts. D) Does the increasing medication dosage concern you?

B

A medical nurse is appraising the effectiveness of a patients current pain control regimen. The nurse is aware that if an intervention is deemed ineffective, goals need to be reassessed and other measures need to be considered. What is the role of the nurse in obtaining additional pain relief for the patient? A) Primary caregiver B) Patient advocate C) Team leader D) Case manager

B

A nurse on an oncology unit has arranged for an individual to lead meditation exercises for patients who are interested in this nonpharmacological method of pain control. The nurse should recognize the use of what category of nonpharmacological intervention? A) A body-based modality B) A mind-body method C) A biologically based therapy D) An energy therapy

B

A patients intractable neuropathic pain is being treated on an inpatient basis using a multimodal approach to analgesia. After administering a recently increased dose of IV morphine to the patient, the nurse has returned to assess the patient and finds the patient unresponsive to verbal and physical stimulation with a respiratory rate of five breaths per minute. The nurse has called a code blue and should anticipate the administration of what drug? A) Acetylcysteine B) Naloxone C) Celecoxib D) Acetylsalicylic acid

B

The nurse is assessing a patients pain while the patient awaits a cholecystectomy. The patient is tearful, hesitant to move, and grimacing. When asked, the patient rates his pain as a 2 at this time using a 0-to-10 pain scale. How should the nurse best respond to this assessment finding? A) Remind the patient that he is indeed experiencing pain. B) Reinforce teaching about the pain scale number system. C) Reassess the patients pain in 30 minutes. D) Administer an analgesic and then reassess.

B

You are admitting a patient to your rehabilitation unit who has a diagnosis of persistent, severe pain. According to the patients history, the patients pain has not responded to conventional approaches to pain management. What treatment would you expect might be tried with this patient? A) Intravenous analgesia B) Long-term intrathecal or epidural catheter C) Oral analgesia D) Intramuscular analgesia

B

You are part of the health care team caring for an 87-year-old woman who has been admitted to your rehabilitation facility after falling and fracturing her left hip. The patient appears to be failing to regain functional ability and may have to be readmitted to an acute-care facility. When planning this patients care, what do you know about the negative effects of the stress associated with pain? A) Stress is less pronounced in older adults because they generally have more sophisticated coping skills than younger adults B) It is particularly harmful in the elderly who have been injured or who are ill. C) It affects only those patients who are already debilitated prior to experiencing pain. D) It has no inherent negative effects; it just alerts the person/health care team of an underlying disease process.

B

You are the emergency department (ED) nurse caring for an adult patient who was in a motor vehicle accident. Radiography reveals an ulnar fracture. What type of pain are you addressing when you provide care for this patient? A) Chronic B) Acute C) Intermittent D) Osteopenic

B

You are the nurse in a pain clinic caring for an 88-year-old man who is suffering from long-term, intractable pain. At this point, the pain team feels that first-line pharmacological and nonpharmacological methods of pain relief have been ineffective. What recommendation should guide this patients subsequent care? A) The patient may want to investigate new alternative pain management options that are outside the United States. B) The patient may benefit from referral to a neurologist or neurosurgeon to discuss pain-management options. C) The patient may want to increase his exercise and activities significantly to create distractions. D) The patient may want to relocate to long-term care in order to have his ADL needs met.

B

Your patient is receiving postoperative morphine through a patient-controlled analgesic (PCA) pump and the patients orders specify an initial bolus dose. What is your priority assessment? A) Assessment for decreased level of consciousness (LOC) B) Assessment for respiratory depression C) Assessment for fluid overload D) Assessment for paradoxical increase in pain

B

You are caring for a 20-year-old patient with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy who has been admitted for the relief of painful contractures in his lower extremities. When creating a nursing care plan for this patient, what variables should the nurse consider? Select all that apply. A) Patients gender B) Patients comorbid conditions C) Type of procedure be performed D) Changes in neurologic function due to the procedure E) Prior effectiveness in relieving the pain

B, C, D, E

A 52-year-old female patient is receiving care on the oncology unit for breast cancer that has metastasized to her lungs and liver. When addressing the patients pain in her plan of nursing care, the nurse should consider what characteristic of cancer pain? A) Cancer pain is often related to the stress of the patient knowing she has cancer and requires relatively low doses of pain medications along with a high dose of anti-anxiety medications. B) Cancer pain is always chronic and challenging to treat, so distraction is often the best intervention. C) Cancer pain can be acute or chronic and it typically requires comparatively high doses of pain medications. D) Cancer pain is often misreported by patients because of confusion related to their disease process.

C

A nurse has cited a research study that highlights the clinical effectiveness of using placebos in the management of postsurgical patients pain. What principle should guide the nurses use of placebos in pain management? A) Placebos require a higher level of informed consent than conventional care. B) Placebos are an acceptable, but unconventional, form of nonpharmacological pain management. C) Placebos are never recommended in the treatment of pain. D) Placebos require the active participation of the patients family.

C

An unlicensed nursing assistant (NA) reports to the nurse that a postsurgical patient is complaining of pain that she rates as 8 on a 0-to-10 point scale. The NA tells the nurse that he thinks the patient is exaggerating and does not need pain medication. What is the nurses best response? A) Pain often comes and goes with postsurgical patients. Please ask her about pain again in about 30 minutes. B) We need to provide pain medications because it is the law, and we must always follow the law. C) Unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, we should take the patients report at face value. D) Its not unusual for patients to misreport pain to get our attention when we are busy.

C

The nurse is caring for a 51-year-old female patient whose medical history includes chronic fatigue and poorly controlled back pain. These medical diagnoses should alert the nurse to the possibility of what consequent health problem? A) Anxiety B) Skin breakdown C) Depression D) Hallucinations

C

You are assessing an 86-year-old postoperative patient who has an unexpressive, stoic demeanor. When you enter the room, the patient is curled into the fetal position and your assessment reveals that his vital signs are elevated and he is diaphoretic. You ask the patient what his pain level is on a 0-to-10 scale that you explained to the patient prior to surgery. The patient indicates a pain level of three or so. You review your pain-management orders and find that all medications are ordered PRN. How would you treat this patients pain? A) Treat the patient on the basis of objective signs of pain and reassess him frequently. B) Call the physician for new orders because it is apparent that the pain medicine is not working. C) Believe what the patient says, reinforce education, and reassess often. D) Ask the family what they think and treat the patient accordingly.

C

You are the home health nurse caring for a homebound client who is terminally ill. You are delivering a patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump to the patient at your visit today. The family members will be taking care of the patient. What would your priority nursing interventions be for this visit? A) Teach the family the theory of pain management and the use of alternative therapies. B) Provide psychosocial family support during this emotional experience. C) Provide patient and family teaching regarding the operation of the pump, monitoring the IV site, and knowing the side effects of the medication. D) Provide family teaching regarding use of morphine, recognizing morphine overdose, and offering spiritual guidance.

C

You have just received report on a 27-year-old woman who is coming to your unit from the emergency department with a torn meniscus. You review her PRN medications and see that she has an NSAID (ibuprofen) ordered every 6 hours. If you wanted to implement preventive pain measures when the patient arrives to your unit, what would you do? A) Use a pain scale to assess the patients pain, and let the patient know ibuprofen is available every 6 hours if she needs it. B) Do a complete assessment, and give pain medication based on the patients report of pain. C) Check for allergies, use a pain scale to assess the patients pain, and offer the ibuprofen every 6 hours until the patient is discharged. D) Provide medication as per patient request and offer relaxation techniques to promote comfort.

C

Your patient has just returned from the postanesthetic care unit (PACU) following left tibia open reduction internal fixation (ORIF). The patient is complaining of pain, and you are preparing to administer the patients first scheduled dose of hydromorphone (Dilaudid). Prior to administering the drug, you would prioritize which of the following assessments? A) The patients electrolyte levels B) The patients blood pressure C) The patients allergy status D) The patients hydration status

C

Your patient is 12-hours post ORIF right ankle. The patient is asking for a breakthrough dose of analgesia. The pain-medication orders are written as a combination of an opioid analgesic and a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) given together. What is the primary rationale for administering pain medication in this manner? A) To prevent respiratory depression from the opioid B) To eliminate the need for additional medication during the night C) To achieve better pain control than with one medication alone D) To eliminate the potentially adverse effects of the opioid

C

The nurse is accepting care of an adult patient who has been experiencing severe and intractable pain. When reviewing the patients medication administration record, the nurse notes the presence of gabapentin (Neurontin). The nurse is justified in suspecting what phenomenon in the etiology of the patients pain? A) Neuroplasticity B) Misperception C) Psychosomatic processes D) Neuropathy

D

A 60-year-old patient who has diabetes had a below-knee amputation 1 week ago. The patient asks why does it still feel like my leg is attached, and why does it still hurt? The nurse explains neuropathic pain in terms that are accessible to the patient. The nurse should describe what pathophysiologic process? A) The proliferation of nociceptors during times of stress B) Age-related deterioration of the central nervous system C) Psychosocial dependence on pain medications D) The abnormal reorganization of the nervous system

D

A 74-year-old woman was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis 1 year ago, but has achieved adequate symptom control through the regular use of celecoxib (Celebrex), a COX-2 selective NSAID. The nurse should recognize that this drug, like other NSAIDs, influences what aspect of the pathophysiology of nociceptive pain? A) Distorting the action potential that is transmitted along the A-delta (d) and C fibers B) Diverting noxious information from passing through the dorsal root ganglia and synapses in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord C) Blocking modulation by limiting the reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine D) Inhibiting transduction by blocking the formation of prostaglandins in the periphery

D

The mother of a cancer patient comes to the nurse concerned with her daughters safety. She states that her daughters morphine dose that she needs to control her pain is getting higher and higher. As a result, the mother is afraid that her daughter will overdose. The nurse educates the mother about what aspect of her pain management? A) The dose range is higher with cancer patients, and the medical team will be very careful to prevent addiction. B) Frequently, female patients and younger patients need higher doses of opioids to be comfortable. C) The increased risk of overdose is an inevitable risk of maintaining adequate pain control during cancer treatment. D) There is no absolute maximum opioid dose and her daughter is becoming more tolerant to the drug.

D

The nurse caring for a 91-year-old patient with osteoarthritis is reviewing the patients chart. This patient is on a variety of medications prescribed by different care providers in the community. In light of the QSEN competency of safety, what is the nurse most concerned about with this patient? A) Depression B) Chronic illness C) Inadequate pain control D) Drug interactions

D

The nurse is caring for a male patient whose diagnosis of bone cancer is causing severe and increasing pain. Before introducing nonpharmacological pain control interventions into the patients plan of care, the nurse should teach the patient which of the following? A) Nonpharmacological interventions must be provided by individuals other than members of the healthcare team. B) These interventions will not directly reduce pain, but will refocus him on positive stimuli. C) These interventions carry similar risks of adverse effects as analgesics. D) Reducing his use of analgesics is not the purpose of these interventions.

D

You are creating a nursing care plan for a patient with a primary diagnosis of cellulitis and a secondary diagnosis of chronic pain. What common trait of patients who live with chronic pain should inform your care planning? A) They are typically more comfortable with underlying pain than patients without chronic pain. B) They often have a lower pain threshold than patients without chronic pain. C) They often have an increased tolerance of pain. D) They can experience acute pain in addition to chronic pain.

D

You are the case manager for a 35-year-old man being seen at a primary care clinic for chronic low back pain. When you meet with the patient, he says that he is having problems at work; in the past year he has been absent from work about once every 2 weeks, is short-tempered with other workers, feels tired all the time, and is worried about losing his job. You are developing this patients plan of care. On what should the goals for the plan of care focus? A) Increase the patients pain tolerance in order to achieve psychosocial benefits. B) Decrease the patients need to work and increase his sleep to 8 hours per night. C) Evaluate other work options to decrease the risk of depression and ineffective coping. D) Decrease the time lost from work to increase the quality of interpersonal relationships and decrease anxiety.

D

You are the nurse caring for the 25-year-old victim of a motor vehicle accident with a fractured pelvis and a ruptured bladder. The nurses aide (NA) tells you that she is concerned because the patients resting heart rate is 110 beats per minute, her respirations are 24 breaths per minute, temperature is 99.1F axillary, and the blood pressure is 125/85 mm Hg. What other information is most important as you assess this patients physiologic status? A) The patients understanding of pain physiology B) The patients serum glucose level C) The patients white blood cell count D) The patients rating of her pain

D

You are the nurse coming on shift in a rehabilitation unit. You receive information in report about a new patient who has fibromyalgia and has difficulty with her ADLs. The off-going nurse also reports that the patient is withdrawn, refusing visitors, and has been vacillating between tears and anger all afternoon. What do you know about chronic pain syndromes that could account for your new patients behavior? A) Fibromyalgia is not a chronic pain syndrome, so further assessment is necessary. B) The patient is likely frustrated because she has to be in the hospital. C) The patient likely has an underlying psychiatric disorder. D) Chronic pain can cause intense emotional responses.

D