Case history
Philippe Jones is a 36-year-old healthy male with no past medical history. He takes no medications and has no allergies. He was the belted driver in motor vehicle incident (MVI) involving a frontal impact at 65 kilometres per hour. The driver airbag deployed on impact and he suffered no loss of consciousness prior to or following the incident. He was found walking on the scene of the accident.
Patient is admitted to the surgical unit following treatment and stabilization in the emergency department.
He
- has been cleared by the trauma team of any head, neck, cardiac, spine, abdominal and limb injuries
- has multiple left-sided rib fractures (flail segment involving ribs 6, 7 and 8) with a 30% pneumothorax and moderate hemothorax
- has a left-sided chest tube connected to a closed chest drainage system and low wall suction
- is receiving morphine via patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) pump
You have collected the relevant data on your patient. It is 08:00 as you enter the patient’s room to assess his condition and his nursing needs.