Harvard University Nursing Discussion

One week ago, you started your dream job as an orthopedic nurse at a Level 1 Trauma Center in a metropolitan city of 3.7 million people. The hospital has ranked as the #5 Trauma Orthopedic Specialty Unit in the United States for eight years. At this point during orientation, you are permitted to care for one stable client per 12-hour shift. Today you start your shift with Ryan; a 25-year-old admitted through the Emergency Room after a motor vehicle accident with rollover resulting in a fractured right femur, multiple rib fractures, sternal bruises, and multiple abrasions. He is two hours post-op from an open reduction internal fixation of the right femur and appears alert and oriented. When you enter the room his first statement is, Can someone please get me a cigarette or a patch; I have not had a smoke since yesterday morning!