NURSES: How do you titrate IV morphine?

Physician's order:
Continuous morphine sulfate infusion at 10-15 mg/hr in hospice patient.

I would set initial dose at 10 mg/hr. If patient continues to complain of severe pain, you would titrate the infusion to how many mgs? I'm thinking 12mg/hr. Am I right? Would you go in 2mg increments?

I cannot find it in my pharm book, and so far, the internet has not given me the answer I am looking for.

It's a judgment call on the part of the nurse, and experience has a lot to do with it.

It's always best to go slowly, as it is very easy to give more, and not so easy to resuscitate an overdosed patient. (Possible, yes, but it's poor form!)

If your patient is still in severe pain, and you feel confident that you can take over breathing for him if you overshoot, 2 mg increments are fine. Be aware, though, that there are patients who have only 2 steps on the pain scale - 0 and 10.
If the patient drifts off to sleep between complaints of pain, you're in a real difficult spot. The extra mg/hr might put him over the top.

On the other hand, chronic opiate patients are quite resistant to morphine, and it might take doses over what is prescribed to keep him comfortable.

It's better to do 1mg increments so you will be able to monitor more the tolerance of the pt. Those orders usually are not in the pharm books and usually nurse's discretion on how they see the pt.