A nurse is caring for a patient who is recovering from total hip replacement surgery. The patient has required increasing doses of IV morphine for pain control. The patient is again reporting 10/10 pain despite receiving 10 mg of morphine from the nurse, which is the top of the range ordered by the physician. The nurse monitors which of the following most closely?

Question

Accepted Answer

Respiratory rate and oxygen saturation. A dose of 10 mg morphine IV is quite high for opioid na&iuml;ve individuals, but perhaps not as high in people who take chronic opioids. We do not know the patient&rsquo;s status in the question, but the dose does not exceed the physician&rsquo;s ordered dose. Opioids can depress respiratory drive to the point that respiratory arrest can occur. Decreased breathing rate and blood oxygenation are the primary concerns when giving high dose opioids. Bowel motility may be slowed, but this is a secondary concern. The same is true for headache, which commonly occurs with morphine use. The patient has a real source of pain (orthopedic surgery) so it is inappropriate to make assumptions about drug seeking in this circumstance.

Want help? View the answer with rationale.

Rationale

Additional Pharmacological and Parenteral Therapies Questions

Nursing Careers

Nursing Degrees

NCLEX