Final answer:
Setting a time frame for outcomes of care indicates when the patient is expected to respond in the desired manner to an intervention like pain management, ensuring safe and effective administration of medication.
Step-by-step explanation:
Setting a time frame for outcomes of care primarily serves to indicate when the patient is expected to respond in the desired manner. In the context of patient care and pain management, like the scenario provided with an individual named June receiving a patient-controlled IV drip for pain relief after surgery, a fixed time frame (one dose per hour) ensures that there is an expected interval in which pain relief can be administered safely and effectively. This schedule illustrates when the intervention (the pain medication) will likely produce the desired outcome (pain relief). Priority of outcomes or the duration a nurse is scheduled to care for a patient are separate aspects that are not directly related to this time frame.