nurse 252 pain assessment Flashcards
what is a pain assessment?
an ongoing process
“fifth vital sign”
highly complex and subjective experience that originates from the CNS, the peripheral nervous system, or both
how long should a nurse wait to reassess pain after administering drug therapy?
15-30 min after parental administration
30min to 1 hr after oral administration
what is nociceptive pain?
caused by tissue injury
- well localized and described as aching or throbbing
- further classified as somatic or viscera
what is somatic nociceptive pain
derived from skin, joints, tendons, muscles or bones
what is visceral pain
pain that originates from the larger internal organs (eg, kidney)
what is neuropathic pain
results from damage to the nerve pathway at any point along the nerve
-caused by direct nerve trauma, infectious disease (herpes hiv) or metabolic problems (diabetes)
what is neuropathic pain described as?
burning, shooting, or lancinating, often intensifying at night
can opiods work on neuropathic pain?
no
do infants have the same capacity for pain as do adults?
yes, by 20 weeks the fetus can experience pain
is pain a common experience for older adults that is normal?
pain due to “aging” is never normal
pain indicated disease or injury -never normal
what is important to give pts in preparation for a painful experience
preemptive analgesia- administer it before repetitive painful procedure, eg dressing changes, suctioning
what is sickle cell characterized by?
by alterations in hemoglobin and by anemia and tissue injury secondary to vaso-occlusion
what will any decrease of oxygenation cause in a pt with sickle cell?
cause alterations in the shape of red blood cells, which causes them to stick together and ultimately block small vessels
what does sickle cell cause?
severe pain in chest, long bones, joint pain or muscle pain
- usually in lower extremities
- common in afriacan decent / colored
what is sickle cell crisis?
pain that suddnely appears and lasts for several days
-causes perihperal ulcerations, avasular (death of bone tissue) necrosis, and osteomyelitis (infection of bone)
what is a sickle cell crisis caused by?
its brought on by psychological causes (stressful events) or physiological causes such as infectino or dehydration or stomach flu
what do pts in a sickle cell crisis need?
-crazy amounts of pain meds, more than “enough”
what ethnicities does sickle cell crisis happen in most?
african decent, mediterranean, caribbean, arabia, india, south and central america
according to WHO, what mental disorders are the leading causes of disability?
Depression, alcohol use disorders, and psychoses
what does cognition in a MSE involve assessing?
Consciousness, Orientation, attention, concentration, comprehension and abstract reasoning
what is the MoCA?
takes 10-15 min
includes standerd sets of questions, ahs standardised administration methods -useful for initial and serial measurements so you can sue it to demostrate worsening or imporveing cognitino over a period of time w treatment
-considered a good screening tool to detect dementia and delerium to differnetiate these from psychiatric mental illness
what do the scores on a moca indicate?
above 26 indicates no cognitive impariment
18-23 indicates mild cognitive impairment
0-7 indicates severe cognitive impairment
what are the four cranial bones?
frontal, parietal, occipital and temporal
what is the coronal suture?
what crowns the head ear to ear horizontalliy
what is the sagittal suture?
seperates the sides of the head lengthwise between the two partietal bones
how many facial bones are there?
14
what is the cranium supported by?
cervical vertebra: CI atlas and C2 axis
where are the parotid glands located?
in the cheeks over the mandible
what does a swollen parotid gland indicate?
possible mumps
where are the submandibular glands located?
beneath the mandible at the angle of the jaw
where are the siblingual glands located?
lie in the floor of the mouth
what is the thyriod gland?
an important endocrine gland with rich blood supply
where is the thyriod gland located?
it straddles the trachea in the middle of the neck - may be palpable is swelled
how is it possible to palpate the thyriod?
ask pt to swallow, will feel it come up
what does the thryoid gland do?
synthesises and secreted T4 and T3 hormones that stimulate the rate of cellular metabolism
-controls temp, growth, mood, metsrual cycles, body weight
if the thyriod is enlarged, what should a nurse auscultate for?
a bruit
what is a bruit?
a soft, pulsatile, shooshing sound best heard with the bell of a stethoscope
are bruits normal?
not normally present- indicative of hyperthyroidism
what is the job of lymph nodes?
to detect and eliminate foreign substances from the body
-allows the flow of clear, watery fluid (lymph) from the tissue spaces into circulation
when lymph nodes are abnormal, where should u check for source of problem?
check the area in which they drain for the problem
what should a nurse do if lymph nodes are palpable?
note thier size, location, shape, mobility, consitency and tenderness (hard or fluid filled?)
- normal nodes should feel movable, discrete, soft and nontender
- concerning nodes are immobile (malignant) painful (infection) and hard
- always assume its malignant until its proven not
what is lymphadenopathy?
is enlargment of lymph nodes caused by infection, alergy, or neoplasm (cancer)
what does an enlarged lymph node, particularly when u cannot find the source of the problem, need?
needs prompt attention