A home care patient is experiencing pain secondary to surgery for
Question Answered step-by-step A home care patient is experiencing pain secondary to surgery forhead and neck cancer. She takes a liquid narcotic in suspension form. Her doctor ordered 2 teaspoons every 4 hours as needed for pain, and gave orders to the home health nurse to titrate the dose to the patient’s pain level. The nurse is to report on the patient’s pain level and response to the analgesics every week. Given the patient’s condition, level of pain, and previous response to analgesics, there is no fear of addiction in this patient. The nurse has explained the treatment plan to the patient, and she concurs with the analgesia plan. However, the patient will not measure the amount of medication she takes each time. Every time the nurse visits, the patient reports that she takes a “couple of swigs” and that it relieves the pain. She does not see the need to make a detailed record of her use of medication because the system she is using works. Design a program that will be agreeable to this patient and still meet the nursing need of documenting episodes of pain and how much medication was needed for relief of the pain. You must consider your legal and ethical role as a nurse and the idea of patient autonomy. Health Science Science Nursing MATH 101 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)
