Journal of emergency nursing : JEN : official publication of the Emergency Department Nurses Association
-
This study was conducted to describe the prevalence of pain in the emergency department and to identify factors that may contribute to its treatment. ⋯ This study revealed a very high prevalence of pain among patients in the emergency department and showed that, overall, pain was poorly treated. The findings suggest that chest pain is the only type of pain routinely relieved in the emergency department. An anecdotal finding was that 31 patients said they would refuse pain medications if such medications were offered. Twenty-five patients reported fear of addiction as their reason for this refusal.