A nurse is assessing the pain of a postoperative client who is alert and oriented. The client is lying still in bed and watching television but reports a pain level of 8/10 on the numeric rating scale. Which action should the nurse take first?
Administer the prescribed analgesic for the client's reported pain level.
Encourage the client to use deep breathing exercises since they do not appear to be in distress.
Re-assess the client's pain in 30 minutes, noting the discrepancy between their behavior and report.
Document that the client's self-reported pain is inconsistent with their observed behavior.
The client's self-report is the most reliable indicator of their pain experience. Even if a client's behavior, such as watching television, does not seem to align with a high pain score, the nurse's priority is to treat the reported pain. Delaying medication or encouraging non-pharmacological methods as a first-line substitute dismisses the client's report and can lead to inadequate pain management. While documenting the discrepancy is important, it is not the priority action. The priority is to provide the prescribed intervention for the client's reported pain level.
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Physiological Integrity
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