Question

An 82 year old man living alone at home had a sudden onset of chest pain. He called 911 and was taken to the emergency department.

• As his ED nurse what is your first action in response to his report of chest pain?
• The physician prescribes IV nitroglycerin for the pain. What assessment will you perform prior to administering this drug and why?
• The physician prescribed oxygen at 3L via nasal cannula. What is the purpose of this intervention for managing chest pain?

Answer 1

Answer: According to the mentioned information, the nurse should :

• Provide oxygen support to the patient as it is important that akk body tissues should get sufficient oxygen for survival.
• The nurse need to identify or differentiate the types of chest pain.
• Intervene and collect the subjective and objective data.

Before the administering the Nitroglycerin, it is important to assess al the vital signs such as respiration rate, pulse rate, skin color, headache, blood pressure etc. Because Nitroglycerin may elevate the headache or dizziness.

As the physician prescribed oxygen at 3L via nasal cannula, the main purpose is to provide sufficient amount of oxygen. As the supplement of oxygen leads to support the oxygen reaching to the myocardia.