Difficulty: Medium
Average Score: 73%
Simulated
A 9-year-old is given morphine for postoperative pain. As the nurse is assessing the client for pain 4 hours later, his mother leaves the room and the child begins to cry. The nurse's initial assessment of the child's pain is that he is:
Correct answer
B
Rationale
Emotional distress, such as the mother leaving, can lower pain tolerance, making the child more sensitive to existing pain.