Test question help

[nptobee]

Hello everyone!

I'm a first semester nursing student. We had a test question worded similar to this the other day. I'm curious to know what you all would have chosen.

A terminal cancer patient asks says to you that God is punishing her because she is in so much pain. The priority nursing diagnosis would be

A. Pain related to ineffective analgesia

B. Spiritual distress related to belief that God is punishing her with pain.

I chose A, and got it wrong. The choice of ineffective analgesia led me to believe that she was on the wrong med, needed a stronger dose, needed to have it more frequently, etc.

I thought if I could do something to relieve the pain, she wouldn't feel she was being punished because there was no pain. On the other hand if she said God is punishing me with Cancer, then B would have seemed the correct answer.

It also asks priority, to me getting her out of pain would take priority over having a clergyman come to speak with her. Not that her spirituality isn't important, but the pain needs to be relieved FIRST.

Also pain is the fifth vital.

Those were my thoughts, any other?

Thanks

[Agnus]

My immediate reaction was to pick B. I understand what you are saying about Maslow. But I think this is a form of, reading into the question.

It probably has a lot to do with test taking skill. After a while you begin to get a feel for the NCLEX type question.

[HollieRN]

I would have picked B as well ... But i'm a student too, and one of my teacher's stressed the importance of other exploring other factors of a patients pain.

And the question is kinda tricky ... But i don't know why they would've mentioned spirituality in the question if it wasn't more significant.