Milda Caset is a 45 year old patient who had abdominal surgery for Diverticulosis and removal of a tumor two days ago.  Her nurse, Desiree, implemented pain-control strategies in an effort to help her become more mobile so recovery could proceed. Up until now, she was getting out of bed and rating her pain at a level of 6 on a scale of 0 to 10.  The patient still tends to guard her incision by placing her hand over the wound when moving.  

Mrs. Caset weighs 140 lbs and is 5 ft 2 inches tall.  She has tried to cough more during her postoperative deep-breathing exercises.  Desiree is caring for her for the third day in a row and begins the morning shift by inspecting her surgical wound.  The wound is approximately 20 cm in length and closed with steel sutures.  Desiree notices separation of the wound between two sutures at the bottom of the incision. There is a small amount of sanguineous drainage.  The area is inflamed, and she asks the patient if the incision is tender when she gently palpates around the area.  Mrs. Caset states, "Ow, that is painful.  I think I pulled it when I positioned last night."  She also rates pain at this time as being at a level of 7.  Desiree checks Mrs. Caset's vital signs and notes that her temperature of 38.4 C.  Desiree also inspects the intravenous access device in the patient/s left forearm.  It is intact, and there are no signs of phlebitis at the IV site. Mrs. Caset knows that she will have activity restrictions and her husband will be a resource to her once she returns home.  Her discharge has been planned tentatively.  Her family depends on her income.  Now she begins to share concerns with Desiree about being able to return to work after surgery. She does not consistently attend to nurse during instructions of her home instructions. She also verbalized some concern by asking Desiree, " The doctor told me that I would not be able to lift anything heavy and I'm not so sure if I understand. The way my incision looks, will I need to do something to it?" 

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

It is understandable that Mrs Caset has concerns and questions about her recovery and ability to ret... View the full answer