Hi,
I have a question for any nurses who care for "comfort measures only" patients. These patients are not cancer patients or have pain issues. These patients are generally CVA, pneumonia etc, elderly patients in an acute care setting with high respiration rates.
Scenerio: Pt is started on MSO4 drip at 2mg/hr, titrate to comfort.
Pts respirations are 30-40, so you titrate to have the patient be more comfortable. Now you are at 6 mg/hr, resp are now 8, non-labored. Would you decrease the rate and see how the patient does, obviously increasing if the patient needs it?
I know this sounds like a silly question. But there have been discussions with differing opinions.
Do you ever come to a point where you would shut off the drip because respirations are below 6 and the pt is comfortable or just keep at a rate as low as 1mg/hr, never shutting it off?
Any opinions are greatly appreciated. I am fairly new to acute care and really would like some input.
Thanks