Patients feel stabbing pain that can be very hard to cope with. As a nurse, your main role is to help your patient reduce sharp pain by providing quality care. To achieve this, you must develop a complete nursing care plan for acute pain that will help you relieve your patients’ pain and speed-up recovery.
As a nurse, you must give medicine and mental and emotional support and help your patients learn how to manage pain. In this article, we have provided you with a guide on creating a quality nursing care plan and a staged approach for the patient having sharp pain. Take a closer look at how you can successfully care for a patient with acute pain.
What is the meaning of acute pain?
Acute pain is an irritating, sensual, and psychological case based on actual tissue damage. The emotional signs of sharp or acute pain transpire from the body’s response to the pain. This pain informs a person of a presence of an injury or a potential illness, which will allow you to seek medical attention or assistance to help relieve the pain.
Human culture, emotions, and mental disturbances can be another cause of acute pain. Evaluating pain in elderly patients can be difficult due to cognitive disorders and emotional-sensory deficiency. The main focus of the nursing care plan for acute is the evaluation and management of nursing acute pain.
Causes of acute pain
There are different causes of acute pain. For every type of acute pain, there must be a unique acute pain nursing care plan that will help you in the diagnosis of your patient’s illness. The following are the common causes of acute pain; they include:
- Cuts and some infections
- Broken bones
- Pain after surgery
- During childbirth
- Dental procedures
- Strained muscles
- Burns and many more
With these causes of acute pain, there are some of the symptoms that you will experience. These symptoms will remind you to seek assistance or help from professionals. The symptoms of acute pain include the following;
- Burning sensation
- The throbbing or pulsing sensation
- Numbness
- Acute pain
- Loss of strength and,
- Tingling among others
Nursing care plan for abdominal pain
Abdominal pain is a discomfort you may feel between your chest and groin. This pain can be acute or chronic, with varying features and severity. The following are different types of abdominal pain; they include:
- Abdominal cramping, which is accompanied by bloating and excessive gas leading to diarrhea
- Localized pain, which affects a specific abdominal organ, is an indication of the potential problems or health risks to organs such as the gallbladder and the appendix, among others
- Colicky pain is also defined as sharp or aa sudden abdominal pain, and kidney stones mainly cause it
- The generalized abdominal pain felt over a large part of the abdomen
The leading causes of abdominal pain include some severe conditions such as;
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Constipation
- Appendicitis
- Endometriosis
- Bowel obstruction
- Pelvic inflammatory illness and much more
To diagnose abdominal pain, you must have a complete nursing care plan for acute abdominal pain related to abdominal pain. This, together with the diagnostics tests, will help you to be able to assess and manage the treatment.
Nursing care plan for acute pain related to abdominal distension
Abdominal distension is the common case reported for gastrointestinal symptoms, affecting patients diagnosed with an extensive medical and surgical disorder. Many healthcare professionals do not understand abdominal distention’s very hard etiology. The main causes of abdominal distension include:
- Lactose intolerance
- Early signs of pregnancy
- The partial bowel blockage or altere3d gas movement
- Intestinal gas caused by food with high fiber or constipation
- The buildup of fluids or high content of water in the abdomen
- Potential ovarian tumors
- Bacterial infections on the abdominal organs
The signs of abdominal distension include the following;
- Fever
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Bloating
- Feeling tender in the abdomen
- Regular belching
- Sharp pain in the abdomen
- Abdominal cramping
Nursing care plan for abdominal distention
Nausea and vomiting:
The diagnosis: nausea and vomiting are common signs of abdominal distention, as shown by increased salivation, loss of appetite, and increased heart rate with a high fever.
Expected results:
- The patient will have an improvement in their nauseous feeling
- The patient will stop vomiting
- The patient will be able to prevent nausea and vomiting and manage fever after the medical teaching program
To prepare a successful nursing care plan for abdominal distention, you must determine the causes of nausea. You must have the patient’s data identifying the previous history of nausea and vomiting. As a nurse, you need to consider the amount and features of the vomit, the nature of the pain, and any other related symptoms.
It is essential to ensure that you check the status of the diet and sleeping pattern of your patient and refer them to a dietician if necessary. Examine your patients’ fluid intake and analyze their hydration progress by testing their blood pressure, weight, and mucous membrane, among others. You must eliminate unpleasant smells from the patient’s surroundings and ensure that you prescribe the necessary medicines.
Acute pain related to amputation
Amputation is the removal of a limb caused by a chronic illness or injury such as diabetes. Amputation has increased in the United States due to increased diabetes cases. As a nurse, you must prepare acute pain related to amputation care plans to improve the treatment and meet your needs.
The following are the common signs and symptoms of amputation. They include;
- Sharp pain and numbness in the foot
- Wounds that take a long to heal
- Presence of a pulse in the leg or a feeble pulse
- Severe infection that does not go away
- Shiny, smooth, and dry skin of the foot
- Thickening of the toenails
- Gangrene
What are the types of amputation
Doctors divide amputation into two different types; upper and lower amputations. The upper amputations include fingers and arms that are affected by a particular chronic illness. The lower amputation has infected toenails, ankles, and legs.
As a doctor, it is essential to discuss with the patient the need and importance of amputating the infected part of the body. This will help your patient decide and be comfortable with the outcome or the results. Here, we have discussed different amputation medical terms you will encounter in your medical study. These types of amputation include:
- The upper part
This consists of the following amputations;
- A portion of the hand amputation
- Wrist amputation
- Elbow amputation
- Upper arm amputation
- Shoulder amputation
- Lower part
This type of amputation includes the following;
- Toenails amputation
- Midfoot amputation
- The amputation of the lower leg
- Knee joint amputation
- Hip joint amputation
- Amputation of the entire leg
Causes of acute pain related to amputation
- High blood sugar levels
- Calluses
- Feet malformations
- Foot ulcers
- Problems related to vision
- High blood pressure
- Smoking
- Peripheral artery disease
- Kidney failure
Nursing care plan for amputation
If the medical diagnosis is, for instance, low situational self-esteem due to loss of body strength and loss of mobility that s caused by previous amputation. This can lead to rejection from families and friends, body negativity, and impotence.
The expected results after diagnosis:
- The patient will be able to adapt to the amputation
- The patient will develop plans for managing the amputated part
- The patient will have self-acceptance
To create a care plan, you must examine if your patient is ready for amputation. As a nurse, you must help your patient adapt to the amputation by providing mental and emotional support. Track your patient’s level of help aided by family and friends and determine how your patient is coping with the situation.
Acute pain related to surgical incision
Nursing care plans for acute pain related to surgical incisions and acute pain labor nursing care plan can be due to normal or cesarean childbirth. The surgical incision is done in the abdomen and the uterus; it can either be planned or emergency conditions that require the surgical procedure.
A surgical incision is a standard procedure that is either planned or unplanned, especially in the United States. Some factors that determine surgical incision nursing care plans; include:
- Acute or sharp pain
- Injury
- Medical condition
- Low content of fluids
- Infections
- Fear
- Potential impairment of the parent
- Situational self-esteem
- Lack of enough strength
Goals of a nursing care plan for acute pain
The following are acute pain nursing care plan goals. They include the following;
- It provides the patient with precautions for reducing pain before it becomes sharp or severe
- Understanding and accepting the patients’ pain
- It provides non-pharmacology pain management and pain relieve
- Manages pain using modern approaches
- Provide nursing assistance, especially when the analgesics effect is at the peak
- Helps to prevent and reduce acute pain caused by extreme medical procedures
- It helps in the evaluation of the effectiveness of pain relievers
Finalizing
A nursing care plan is essential to all healthcare professions and patients. It helps in improving treatment and meeting the patient’s health status. Creating a successful nursing care plan for acute pain requires knowledge and understanding of the causes of the pain.
This blog has provided information relevant to acute pain nursing care plans for different conditions. To learn more about the acute pain care plan, visit us at: proscholarly.com and get help with your nursing care plan and any other nursing assignment.