1. Pain Assessment

John, a 46-year-old African-American male presents for admission to your hospital for hemi-colectomy for colon polyps. He is complaining of chronic back pain. Patient is on disability from work related injury. History of two (2) previous back surgeries with relief of numbness in RLE but pain has not been relieved. His current medications include Methadone, Neurontin and Norco. John states he takes Benadryl PM every night in addition to his prescribed medications. John is a smoker and smokes 1 PPD. John confides in you that he is considering a spinal cord stimulator for the chronic pain.

What risk factors does John have for risk of opioid withdrawal during this hospitalization?

Is there a stigma connected to being disabled and or methadone?

Does the nurse need to be concerned about acetaminophen use?

What are the differences in acute and chronic pain?

2: Nutritional Assessment

Yulang Lei, an 82-year-old Vietnamese man, was admitted to your floor with dehydration and a urinary tract infection following a fall at home. He is alert and oriented, but weak. He appears frail. His admission history includes the following.

• He lives alone; his wife died 6 months ago.

• He states he ran a traditional Vietnamese family, unlike his children, who are married and have now moved away.

• His wife did all the cooking and he hasn't had much of an appetite since she died. He eats rice and some vegetables, but rarely "bothers to cook meat for just one person."

• Usual daily activity is reading the Vietnamese community newspaper with his morning tea for breakfast. He says he usually eats lunch, but can't remember what he usually eats. He has rice and a few vegetables for dinner.

• You notice that his clothes fit very loosely. He states he weighed 140 pounds at his doctor's office 5 months ago. When you weigh him, he weighs 123 pounds and is 5'8″ tall.

Look at the list of nursing diagnoses in Appendix A of your text. What nursing diagnoses would you choose for Mr. Lei?

• What additional questions would you ask to confirm your diagnosis?

• What physical examination and laboratory findings would you expect Mr. Lei to have?

• What psychosocial and cultural factors should you consider when assessing Mr. Lei?

Assignment:

Journal Article Review

You will read an assigned nursing article and write a critique related to a selected topic.

This assignment enables to meet the following course outcomes:

1: Utilize effective communication when performing a health assessment.

2. Explore the professional responsibilities involved in conducting a comprehensive health assessment and providing appropriate documentation.

The body of the paper should have four sections with these headings:

Introduction
Summary of the Article
Evaluation of the Article
Conclusion
Use scholarly writing including correct English grammar, syntax and sentence structure.