Comprehensive Final Flashcards
The nurse is attempting to provide comfort measure for the patient experiencing pain. When assessing the patient, the nurse must remember pain is:
Subjective for the patient.
Which of the following useful tool for assessing the intensity of pain is easy to use?
Numeric pain scale.
Mr. Levy, a 45 year old man, has experienced chronic low back pain since a fall 8 years ago. He describes his pain as a “gnawing, constant dull pain” that makes him feel tired. The nurse caring for him recognizes that one of the differences between acute and chronic pain is:
chronic pain is often described as dull and lasting for a long period of time.
One of the general principles of pain management is:
anticipated or mild pain is easier to relieve than severe pain.
A nurse attending a conference asks if anyone can give a definition of drug tolerance. The correct response is:
a potentially serious condition may go unnoticed.
The term intractable pain means:
unrelieved, persistent pain.
When administering a narcotic medication, the most important vital sign to assess first is:
respiration.
The most common adverse reaction to NSAIDS is:
GI distress including nausea, vomiting and pain.
Which of the following descriptions best defines the gate control theory?
only one impulse is transmitted at a time.
Mary Dolan, age 50, has gallbladder disease. She is complaining of right shoulder pain. What type of pain is she experiencing?
referred.
A 55 year old patient has diabetes. He has just had a below the knee amputation of his left leg. He is complaining of pain in his left leg. What term describes this pain?
phantom limb.
Certain types of drugs act on higher centers of the brain to modify perception and reaction to pain. They are the cornerstone of managing moderate to severe acute pain. They are:
opioid analgesics.
Identifying that pain may be intensified when combined with fatigue, sleep disturbances and depression, the nurse understands this relationship is termed:
synergistic.
Regarding the pain, the nurse identifies onset, duration, and severity. These steps are which part of the nursing process with regard to pain management?
Assessment.
When the nurse is assessing the patient for objective signs of pain, one might observe:
restless.
increased blood pressure.
moaning.
Morphine like substances found in the pituitary of the brain is activated in times of stress and pain, and produce analgesic effects. These substances are called:
endorphins.
The nurse can assist the patient in pain relief and should begin pain intervention as soon as the:
the patient states he/she is in pain.
A non-narcotic analgesic used to treat mild pain might be:
Tylenol.
A commonly prescribed over the counter NSAID used to treat pain is:
Ibuprofen.
The rational for making pain the 5th vital sign is:
it makes pain visible and raises awareness.
You are examining a patient’s lower leg and see a draining ulceration. Which one of the following actions is most appropriate in this situation?
Wash your hands, proceed with the rest of the physical examination, and then continue with the examination of the leg ulceration.
You are bathing an 80-year-old man and you notice that his skin is wrinkled, thin, lax, and dry. Which on of the following would be related to these findings?
an increased loss of elastin and a decrease in subcutaneous fat occurs in the elderly.
A 75-year-old woman who has a history of diabetes and peripheral vascular disease has been trying to remove a corn on the bottom of her foot with a pair of scissors. You will encourage her to stop trying to remove the corn with her scissors because of which one of the following?
she could be at risk for infection and lesions that are slow to heal because of her chronic disease.
During a skin assessment, you notice that a Mexican-American patient has skin that is yellowish-brown in color. However, the skin on the hard/soft palate is also yellow in color. Which of the following conditions is most likely the cause of these assessment findings?
jaundice.