Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing 13th Edition by Kerry Cheever, Janice Hinkle

Exercise 1

A 52-year-old woman is admitted to the gynecologic surgery unit following atotal abdominal hysterectomy.She is receiving a continuous epidural infusion ofhydromorphone and the local anesthetic ropivacaine for pain control.Her comfort-function goal is 3 on the 0-to-10 numerical rating scale to deep breathe and cough.Her pain assessment reveals a current pain intensity of 1, and she is satisfied with hercomfort level.She is alert, and assessment of her respiratory status reveals noabnormalities; however, she reports significant discomfort from facial pruritus andintermittently scratches her face. Identify the evidence base for a nonpharmacologicaction that could be taken to help relieve this patient's discomfort from the pruritus.Identify the criteria used to evaluate the strength of the evidence for this practice.