The nurse is caring for a patient who requires skeletal traction after a back injury. Which of the following are appropriate nursing interventions?
Explanation
• To ensure
• A skin assessment should be performed whenever the patient is repositioned (which should be at least every 2-3 hours) because of the risk of skin breakdown from ischemia and compression of the tissue when immobilized
• The traction weights should never be supported; they need to hang in order to be effective
• Stool softeners should be administered to prevent postoperative constipation and obstruction
• Pin sites are susceptible to infection, so the sites should be assessed for increased redness, swelling, pain, or drainage