Final answer:
A nurse attends to a post-appendectomy patient by managing pain, preventing infection, monitoring vital signs, safety, and recovery, ensuring instrument counts, specimen labeling, and addressing equipment and patient care plan with the medical team.
Step-by-step explanation:
The question pertains to the appropriate nursing interventions a nurse would perform for a patient who has had an appendectomy. Key nursing interventions include reviewing the patient's needs for postoperative care which involves managing pain, preventing infection, monitoring vital signs, ensuring patient safety, and promoting healing. Before the incision, the medical team performs a 'time out' to confirm the patient's identity, the surgical procedure, and that all necessary preventive measures (like prophylactic antibiotics) have been taken. After the surgery, the nurse collaborates with the medical team to review the patient's recovery and care plan, ensuring factors like complete instrument counts, proper labeling of specimens, and addressing any equipment issues are meticulously checked off.
In addition, the nurse monitors the patient's response to anesthesia, checks regularly for signs of complications, provides wound care, and educates the patient on care at home post-discharge. Knowledge of the patient's medical history, such as the medication and procedures they have undergone, also helps in providing customized care, as indicated by different surgical procedures like cholecystectomy or appendectomy and their subsequent complications or symptoms like fever and abdominal pain.