preview

Geraldine Pain Case Study

Decent Essays

Geraldine current problems include pain. There are many causes of cancer pain, but often cancer pain occurs when a tumor presses on nerves or body organs or when cancer cells invade bones or body organs. Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery also may cause pain. (Melinda R., 2017)
Geraldine pain may be related to cancer invasion of the pleura and chest wall this is evidenced by her complaints of pain at right-sided that radiates from her upper abdomen through her back. Other likely causes of Geraldine pain are surgical incision, tissue trauma, and disruption of intercostal nerves, presence of chest tube(s) for cancer treatment .as shown in her medication list. Using the Miller’s functional consequences theory, Geraldine …show more content…

The amount of pain may depend on the type of cancer, the stage or extent of the disease, and the person's pain threshold (tolerance for pain). The oncologist confirms Geraldine has Stage IV lung cancer and has spread to her liver. This implies her pain can range from mild and occasional to severe and constant; in addition, Geraldine current medications include Morphine on a regular interval to manage the pain.
The following goals and intervention have been established to manage Geraldine Pain situation in other to improve her quality of life. The first goal will be to put Geraldine pain under control, secondly, Get Geraldine to take part in her usual or desired activities at least before she dies and finally, Make sure Geraldine rest well, relax and have enough sleep.
Step one, Geraldine pains will be monitored and documented at a regular interval by asking her to score her pain on a scale of (0-10) with 0 meaning zero pains and 10 being highly in pain. This will help in evaluating her cancer-related pain symptoms, which may involve viscera, nerve, or bone tissue. Use of rating scale aids helps in assessing level of pain and provides a tool for evaluating the effectiveness of analgesics, enhancing patient control of pain. Geraldine’s reported and unreported pain will be assessed. The discrepancy between reported and nonverbal cue can give us clues to the degree of pain, the effectiveness of

Get Access