Homework help? Critical thinking, making assumptions etc.

So I am in LPN - RN school right now and working on an assignment. I need some help, and I'm not asking for y'all to just give me the answers but feedback or hints. I'm having a hard time critical thinking...So for Part A, it asks what assumptions can i make? I didn't know i could really make any assumptions about the situation...I can't assume he just fell because he was just found on the floor. I have to be able to test my assumption like a hypothesis..Given the available data that i have to work with...are there any assumptions i can really make about the situation? And in Part B, I wrote out my list of questions that i would ask..I'm sure i'm missing some. Any help is appreciated!!

In response to a call light, you enter a room to find a 68-year-old patient on the floor next to the bed. The patient is in his first day post-operative for surgical resection of the colon, he had slept all night without complaint, and the report states that he had not been agitated or confused but doing well.

a. What assumptions, if any, can you make about this situation?

b. What are the questions that you need to ask?

A.

B. Questions I would need to ask:

• Why is patient on the floor? How did he get there?
  
• What was patient's cognitive condition at the time? Confusion?
  
• Was call light responded to in a timely manner?
  
• Patient's current pain level? Type? Location? Any new injuries?
  
• In what position was the patient found on the floor?
  
• Any witnesses to the event?
  
• Environmental factors contributing to patient ending up on floor?
  

I would assume the patient fell for the simple fact that hospitalized patients don't typically climb out of their beds and purposely lie down on the floor. I wouldn't chart that he "fell" without observing it, though ...just that he was found and in what condition.

Pain medication can be sometimes cause people to feel weak or confused, so that might be a good thing to question along with the other things you've listed. I might also wonder about other medical problems the patient has- like a bad knee. Does he use a walker at home, but not have access to one currently? Was his call light within reach?