Postoperative Nursing Management
Assignment
Postoperative Nursing Management Assignment
1. Rita Schmidt, 74 years of age, is a female patient who was
admitted to the surgical unit after undergoing removal of a
section of the colon for colorectal cancer. The patient does not
have a colostomy. The patient has several small abdominal
incisions and a clear dressing over each site. The incisions are well
approximated and the staples are dry and intact. There is a
Jackson-Pratt drain intact with minimal serous sanguineous
drainage present. The patient has a Salem sump tube connected
to low continuous wall suction that is draining a small amount of
brown liquid. The patient has no bowel sounds. The Foley catheter
has a small amount of dark amber-colored urine without
sediments.
The patient has sequential compression device (SCD) in place.
The nurse performs an assessment and notes that the patient’s
breath sounds are decreased bilaterally in the bases and the
patient has inspiratory crackles. The patient’s cardiac assessment
is within normal limits. The patient is receiving O2 at 2 L per nasal
cannula with a pulse oximetry reading of 95%. The vital signs
include: blood pressure, 100/50 mm Hg; heart rate 110 bpm;
respiratory rate 16 breaths/min; and the patient is afebrile. The
patient is confused as to place and time. (Learning Objectives 4
and 7)