Question

A patient is complaining to the nurse that he feels the need to have a bowel movement but has not been able to defecate. He has had cramping and even a small amount of brown watery stool. What should the nurse recognize these symptoms as?

a. Diarrhea
b. Fecal incontinence
c. Fecal impaction
d. Flatulence

Answer 1

The symptoms suggest the patient is experiencing fecal impaction, a condition involving a hard mass of stool in the colon or rectum causing discomfort, cramping, and the inability to pass stool.

Step-by-step explanation:

The nurse should recognize the symptoms described by the patient as fecal impaction. Fecal impaction is a condition where a hard mass of stool becomes stuck in the colon or rectum, leading to symptoms such as the urge to have a bowel movement without being able to, cramping, and passage of small amounts of watery stool, which can sometimes be brown. The small amounts of liquid stool are able to seep around the impacted mass. This condition differs from diarrhea, which is characterized by frequent, loose, or watery bowel movements without necessarily having an urge to defecate but being unable to.