A patient recovering from surgery received an IV analgesic in the post-anesthesia care unit.Upon arrival to the medical-surgical care area one hour later the patient rates pain as being 8 on a scale of 0 to 10.The patient is prescribed morphine 10 mg IM injection every 3 hours PRN.What should the nurse do?

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For the first dose of an IM analgesic postoperatively,patients in pain should not have to wait the ordered time interval of the IM dose after an IV analgesic dose (i.e.,3 hours if the IM order is morphine 10 mg IM q3hr PRN).Having to wait when the IV analgesic is no longer effective can cause needless pain.IV analgesics usually have a shorter duration than IM analgesics.A.It is not known if the patient is prescribed nonnarcotic analgesics.B.The patient is not prescribed IV pain medication.C.The patient does not have to wait for pain medication.

A Patient Recovering from Surgery Received an IV Analgesic in the Post-Anesthesia