Final answer:
The nurse should assess the patient's vital signs, provide comfort measures and administer prescribed pain medication. However, it's crucial to report these symptoms to the healthcare team for further examination and to rule out any complications like bleeding or infection. Further diagnostic tests might be needed to identify if there's any problem like kidney stones causing the pain.
Step-by-step explanation:
Given the patient's reported pain after a renal biopsy, this could be a sign of complications such as a hematoma or kidney injury. The presence of severe pain occurring in the back, arms, and shoulders can indicate something called referred pain, where pain is felt at a location other than where the problem is actually occurring. This is due to the network of nerves that send signals to the brain.
The recommended intervention would be to first assess the patient's vital signs including blood pressure and heart rate. Next, comfort measures could be provided (like adjusting the patient's position or providing a warm compress), along with administration of prescribed pain medication. However, it's extremely important to communicate these symptoms to the healthcare team as soon as possible to rule out complications such as a bleeding or infection, which can be life-threatening.
The patient may also need further diagnostic tests to confirm if there's an underlying issue such as a kidney stone that may be causing the pain, based on the location of the pain described.
Learn more about post-renal biopsy pain management