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

Exercise 2

A 48-year-old woman is 2 days postoperative on your unit for gastric bypasssurgery.She is currently receiving 2 L/min of oxygen by nasal cannula.Her mostrecent vital signs include the following: oral temperature, 38.2°C (100.8°F); heartrate, 87 bpm; respiratory rate, 26 breaths/min; blood pressure, 144/85; and SPO2,94%. Pain control has been an issue since surgery despite being on a morphine PCA,with her reporting surgical site pain between a "7" and "10" on a 0 to 10 rating scaleover the last 24 hours. Upon auscultation, her breath sounds are clear with decreasedbreath sounds bilaterally at the bases.Her postoperative incentive spirometryvolumes have been between 250 and 500 mL.What is the likely cause of her fever?What diagnostic tests and labs would you anticipate that the PCP might order? Howdoes pain control affect this patient's respiratory status? Describe nursinginterventions that could be performed to prevent or treat this clinical problem.