A nurse is caring for a patient who recently had spinal surgery.The nurse knows that patients usually experience acute pain after this type of surgery.The patient refuses to get up and walk and is not moving around in the bed.However,the patient is stoic and denies experiencing pain at this time.What most likely explains this patient's behaviour and response to surgery?

A) The surgery successfully cured the patient's pain.
B) The patient's culture is possibly influencing the patient's experience of pain.
C) The patient is experiencing urinary retention because of manipulation of the spine during surgery;this is preventing the patient from experiencing pain.
D) The nurse is allowing personal beliefs about pain to influence pain management at this time.

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Melannie Ibarra · Accepted Answer

Final Answer : B, Explanation :  A patient's culture can influence the patient's expression of pain.In this case,the patient has just had surgery,and the nurse knows that this surgical procedure usually causes pain.It is important at this time for the nurse to examine cultural and ethnic factors that are possibly affecting the patient's denial of pain at this time.Even if surgery corrects neurological factors that create chronic pain,surgery causes pain in the acute period.Urinary retention usually creates pain and does not mask surgical pain.The nurse is not allowing personal beliefs to influence pain management because the nurse is attempting to determine the reason why the patient is not verbalizing the experience of pain.

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