A Patient Who Is Receiving Care for Osteosarcoma Has Been

A patient who is receiving care for osteosarcoma has been experiencing severe pain since being diagnosed. As a result, the patient has been receiving analgesics on both a scheduled and PRN basis. For the past several hours, however, the patients level of consciousness has declined and she is now unresponsive. How should the patients pain control regimen be affected?

A) The patients pain control regimen should be continued.
B) The pain control regimen should be placed on hold until the patients level of consciousness improves.
C) IV analgesics should be withheld and replaced with transdermal analgesics.
D) The patients analgesic dosages should be reduced by approximately one half.