Definition: Pain relief or decrease to a level of comfort acceptable by patients |
Activities: |
Carry out a comprehensive pain identification, to include site, characteristics, onset/duration, frequency, quality, pain intensity or severity and triggering factors. |
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Observe non verbal indicators of discomfort, especially in patients unable to effefctively communicate. |
Assure accurate analgesia to patients. |
Use therapeutic communication strategies to recognize pain and transmit acceptance of response to pain. |
Analyze cultural influences on response to pain. |
Determine the impact of painful experience on quality of life (e.g.: sleep, appetite, activity, cognition, mood state, relationships, professional performance and responsibility of roles). |
Evaluate previous pain experiences so as to include individual or family history of chronic pain or resulting disability, when adequate. |
Evaluate with patients and health care team the efficacy of pain control measures which have been used. |
Help patients and relatives to look for and offer support. |
Use adequate survey method allowing the monitoring of changes in pain and helping the identification of real and potential receptor factors (e.g.: flowchart, records in a diary). |
Determine the needed frequency to survey patients' comfort and implement a monitoring plan. |
Offer information about pain, that is, its causes, duration and anticipated discomforts caused by procedures. |
Control environmental factors able to influence patients' response to discomfort (e.g., room temperature, lighting, sounds). |
Decrease or eliminate factors which trigger or worsen pain experience (e.g., fear, fatigue, monotony and lack of information). |
Understand patients' willingness to participate, their ability to participate, their preferences, support of relevant people as to the method and contraindications when selecting a pain relief strategy. |
Select and implement a variety of measures (e.g., pharmacological, non-pharmacological, interpersonal) to help pain relief, when adequate. |
Analyze pain type and source when selecting a relief strategy. |
Encourage patients to monitor their own pain and adequately interfere. |
Teach the use of non-pharmacological techniques. |
Cooperate with patients, with relevant people and other health professionals in the selection and implementation of non-pharmacological pain relief measures, when adequate. |
Offer relief with prescribed analgesics. |
Implement the use of patient-controlled analgesia, when adequate. |
Use pain control measures before it gets worse. |
Medicate before activities to improve participation, but evaluate sedation-related risks. |
Assure pre-treatment analgesia and/or non-pharmacological measures before painful procedures. |
Check with patients their level of discomfort, observe medical record changes and inform other health professionals assisting patients. |
Evaluate the effectiveness of pain control measures by means of constant survey of the painful experience. |
Institute and modify pain control measures based on patients' response. |
Promote adequate rest/sleep to provide pain relief. |
Encourage patients to discuss their painful experience, when adequate. |
Notify the physician if measures are not successful or if current complaint is a significant change as compared to patients' previous painful experience. |
Inform other health professionals/relatives about non-pharmacological strategies that are being used by patients to encourage preventive pain control approaches. |
Use a multidisciplinary approach to control pain, when adequate. |
Analyze referrals of patients, relatives and relevant people to support groups and other resources, when adequate. |
Offer adequate information to promote family knowledge about painful experience response and painful experience itself. |
If possible, incorporate family in the pain relief modality. |
Monitor100 patients' satisfaction with pain control at specific intervals. |