Effective Pain Management

The practice of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) has been around for approximately four decades now. During this time there have been improvements to the technology and the understanding of how to use this form of patient pain control; however, there continues to be concern related to the safety and efficacy of PCA. As this analysis proceeds it will briefly explain what PCA is and how it is used, then delve into the benefits and the safety issues surrounding PCA use as it pertains to the patient and the nurse. Some of the benefits of PCA include improved pain management, improved use of nursing resources, increased patient satisfaction, and reduced pulmonary issues (Hicks, Sikirica, Nelson, Schein & Cousins, 2008). Some of the safety

The mentality of some patients that are prescribed painkillers is that it will cure whatever illness they may have and permanently take away the pain; however painkillers, are supposed to be used to reduce pain for a short period of time to bring comfort to a patient. Due to this mentality, it is becoming more common to run to pain medications; even when some pain can be treated with other methods. In order to start to cure this epidemic, patients need to be compliant with how they are supposed to properly use these types of medications. (Grounder,

According to The World Health Organisation (1999), defined pain as an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage. Pain is traditionally described as acute or chronic pain. The prevalence of chronic pain (CP) is higher than of acute of pain, as it affects 7.8 million people of all ages in the UK (Chronic Pain Policy Coalition., 2006). The current leading cause of mortality that is accounting for 60% of all deaths is due to chronic diseases and is also a problem as causes an increasing burden on the health care service (World Health Organisation., 2007). CP can affect a person’s quality of life if managed poorly, statistics shows that 25% of people lose their job and 22% leads to depression. (Chronic Pain Policy Coalition.,

There were 3 periods over 3 different years and it was split between pediatrics and adults and men and women. In the results, the amount of time that it took to administer the medication decreased over the years overall. Pediatric patients received pain medication more quickly than adults and adult men received their pain medication before adult women. Most of the time adult women had higher pain scores than the adult men, but they were still given analgesics last. Pain in women should be respected as pain in men is. Pediatric patients that came in for vaso-occlusive crisis decreased over the years, but adult patients fluctuated throughout. This research also considered some reasons that analgesics are taking so long to be administered. One reason that they noticed were that laboratory tests and image studies may delay the amount of time it takes to give the pain medications. Another reason was because these patients go to the emergency department and they are not considered to be a medical urgency if they are medically stable and therefore will not be seen first. This article in comparison to the one by Wilson and Nelson have some similarities and differences. Both articles are the same in that they both believe

Chronic pain is a tremendous public health problem, and a costly one. As health care advances and the need for palliative care rises, patients and health care providers are constantly investigating alternative methods of pain treatment and management. Questioning and challenging traditional health policies and practices has created an interest in the use of cannabis as an alternative option to standard opioids, for the management of chronic pain. Cannabis, or marijuana, is a leafy green plant consisting of buds and leaves of the cannabis sativa forma indica plants. Marijuana has been used in holistic solutions for hundreds of years; it has also been especially prevalent among terminally ill cancer patients, who have been reported using it to alleviate symptoms like chronic pain, nausea and depression.

Because severe pain is more difficult to control, Mrs R may become anxious and fatigued, and may also withdraw again from the regimen if there is no success in achieving pain relief; therefore, the preventive approach needs to be considered. (Wells, 2014). For an effective pain control pain, Mrs R should also keep a daily record of her pain. Writing a diary can help empower the patient in her own care, give her confidence and increase self-efficacy (Bastable, 2014). Also, a strategy of pain management is to combine opiods with non-narcotics, such as Tylenol, in order to enhance pain relief and to slowly decrease the use of narcotics overtime (Lewis, 2014). Mrs R was explained to always follow the right dosage of medication to optimize the narcotic results. A complete assessment of pain should be performed: PQRST. Pain is a subjective concept and the patient must describe the pain in order to provide an effective care plan (Jarvis, 2013). Responses to pain medication should be documented to facilitate communication between health care providers, therefore to maximise effective pain management strategies (Lewis, 2014). The use of non-pharmacological therapy for pain is also recommended to Mrs R because it helps reduce the dose of an analgesic/opiod required to control pain and helps to minimize analgesic side effects, and also promote the release of endorphins which inhibit pain signals (NCBI, 2010). Mrs R is encouraged to use distraction such as watching TV, listening to the radio/music, which redirect the attention on something and away of the pain. Imagery can also be proposed to divert the focus away from the pain by stimulating the client’s imagination to develop sensory images. Relaxation strategies can also be used to help Mrs R to be free of her anxiety and stress, and to reduce muscle tension (Lewis,

The first 48 hours of pain analysis and treating the pain of the patient to the hospice (or end-of-life patient in any other stetting) are crucial. However, the patient may be unable to speak and articulate his pain, or may be able to inadequately express the symptoms. One of the major concerns for those who are at the end of life is

The authors of the article each come with their own perepectives on pain management in the cognitively impaired older adult.

Chronic pain is any pain that lasts longer than 3 months (FNLM, 2011). A common type of chronic pain is neuropathic pain which occurs when the nerves themselves are damaged by injury or disease (Veteran Mates, 2013). Neuropathic pain is a complex condition that is often underdiagnosed or undertreated, resulting in negative physical, psychological and social impacts (Veteran Mates, 2013). Therefore early management is critical in order to improve the person’s quality of life and to reduce the chance of the pain becoming persistent (Pain Health, 2015). The following 5 articles relating to the management of neuropathic pain will be annotated, including a summary of the main

According to research, various factors contribute to poor pain management in post-op care. The duality of under medication and overmedication is due to inadequate and insufficient pain assessment. This paper explores the reasons behind the lack of post-op pain attitudes, treatment, and evaluation. Both patients and nurses’ attitudes to pain stems from insufficient assessment tools and evaluations. Pain is a subjective symptom and is very difficult to qualify during comparative studies. Most research on patients’ post-op experience are found on older adults, ranging from acute to chronic care. Without a broader age range and ethnicities, it is difficult to make conclusions, due to a gaping hole in quantitative research. Further research

The implementation of pain management based on the best available evidence implies the comprehensive assessment of pain with a reliable and valid assessment instrument, the application of pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions based on the findings of the evaluation, the frequent re-evaluation of pain to know the level of response to treatment. Although evidence-based pain management

basic human right). The goal of using this pain management strategy are to reduce postoperative

According to John Hopkins Medicine (n.d.), pain is an uncomfortable feeling that tells you something may be wrong. It can be fixed, throbbing, stabbing, aching, pinching, or described in many other ways. Pain is categorized as either acute or chronic. Acute pain is usually severe and brief, and is often a signal that your body has been injured. Chronic pain can vary from mild to severe and is there for long periods of time (John Hopkins Medicine, n.d). This paper will discuss a scenario that entails which person is experiencing the most pain, how two people can have the same procedure experience different levels of pain, factors that contribute to each person’s pain level, and two complementary/alternative methods of pain control.

‘Pain is an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage’ (International association for the study of pain 2014). Pain can be made up of complex and subjective experiences. The experience of pain is highly personal and private, and can not be directly observed or measured from one person to the next (Mac Lellan 2006). According to the agency for health care policy and research 1992, an individuals self-report of pain is the most reliable indicator of its presence. This is also supported by Mc Caffery’s definition in 1972, when he said ‘Pain is whatever the experiencing patient says it is, existing whenever he says it does’.

The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage” (1979). Pain is actually the culprit behind warranting a visit to a physician office for many people (Besson, 1999). Notoriously unpleasant, pain could also pose a threat as both a psychological and economic burden (Phillips, 2006). Sometimes pain does happen without any damage of tissue or any likely diseased state. The reasons for such pain are poorly understood and the term used to describe such type of pain is “psychogenic pain”. Also, the loss of productivity and daily activity due to pain is also significant. Pain engulfs a trillion dollars of GDP for lost work time and disability payments (Melnikova, 2010). Untreated pain not only impacts a person suffering from pain but also impacts their whole family. A person’s quality of life is negatively impacted by pain and it diminishes their ability to concentrate, work, exercise, socialize, perform daily routines, and sleep. All of these negative impacts ultimately lead to much more severe behavioral effects such as depression, aggression, mood alterations, isolation, and loss of self-esteem, which pose a great threat to human society.