Yes pain control is a very large part of our care in the ER. It is very frustrating for a busy ER nurse when you have a chronic pain patient on the call bell before the med is due and you are trying to run a code or even prevent one. Unfortunately there is no education for the chronic pain patients but we are suppose to stop what we are doing to wait on them. I think it needs to be understood by all the definition of triage!
Original Post
September 8, 2009
Title: Effective measures toward pain management
This post reminds us that the measurement of pain is primarily subjective. As providers, we must always remember that people respond to and express pain very differently. We must be culturally sensitive when assessing and treating pain. Pain is the 5th vital sign. Pain affects the physical and psychological well-being of our patients. It is our responsibility to ensure that our patients’ pain is being well managed. We must know our own biases and misconceptions and leave them at the door.
Original Post
September 2, 2009
Title: Effective measures toward Pain Management
Pain is an alteration in ones comfort level, which can significantly impact the physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. Pain is a subjective experience that can only be explained by the patient. Cultural and ethnicity are a few factors that influences patients response to pain, to improve outcomes nurses must be able to understand pain from a cultural perceptive. People respond to and view pain differently. Among various groups for various reasons emotions may or may not accompany pain it is viewed by some as an act of punishment or as a spiritual test. Having knowledge of patient’s views and how they define pain is very valuable in that it can assist the nurse in achieving positive outcomes by incorporating this information in the plan of care. Nurses who ignore or refuse to develop cultural sensitivity not only do they violate patients’ rights but also a chance of having a trustful relationship and without this you can expect poor outcomes. Pain is often poorly assessed and poorly managed due to reasons like misconceptions and nurses lack knowledge. This usually leads to under medications and poor outcomes, such as the post-op abdominal surgery patient that develop pneumonia because is unable to perform cough and deep breath exercises every 2hrs secondary to pain because of the nurses’ misconceptions about administering pain medication to a patient with history substance abuse. To achieve goals of effective pain management nurses must first be aware of their values and personal beliefs concerning pain and the behaviors associated with it, this will assist in developing an awareness and sensitivity to the patient’s need. Nurses must be knowledgeable and skilled in collection of both subjective and objective data (by accepting the patients’ assessment of pain by using pain assessment tools and observation of emotional behaviors such as crying or moaning), which will assist in identifying the intensity of patients’ pain and promote better outcomes. Misconceptions must be explored and addressed because these also impact outcomes, such as administering pain med on regular basis will lead to addiction or those who abuse drugs usually over exaggerate their pain, by acknowledging these misconceptions nurses will be able address patients’ pain related issues more professionally and improve steps toward effective pain management.
Tags: Forensic Nursing, Forensic Nursing Chronicles, Forensic Nursing Theories, Forensic Nursing Pain Management, Patient Rights Pain Management, Medication Error Pain Management, Cultural Sensitivity Pain Management, Ethic Sensitivity Pain Management, Forensic Nursing Pain Assessment
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