A patient with extensive second-degree burns on the legs and trunk is using patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) with IV morphine to be delivered at 1 mg every 10 minutes to control the pain. Several times during the night, the patient awakens in severe pain, and it takes more than an hour to regain pain relief. The most appropriate action by the nurse is to

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Adding a continuous dose of the morphine at night will allow the patient to sleep without being awakened by the pain. Administering a dose of morphine when the patient awakens would not address the problem. Teaching the patient to administer unneeded medication before going to sleep might result in oversedation and respiratory depression. It is inappropriate for the nurse to administer the morphine while the patient sleeps because the nurse could not assess the pain level.

A Patient with Extensive Second-Degree Burns on the Legs and Trunk