The Australian journal of advanced nursing : a quarterly publication of the Royal Australian Nursing Federation
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This study compared the incidence of pain reported by hospitalised patients with that recorded by nurses, correlated patients' and nurses' ratings of pain intensity and explored the relative importance nurses placed on various criteria in pain assessment. Patients (n = 115) in a university teaching hospital rated pain intensity on a visual analogue scale (VAS) and indicated its source and duration. Nurses (n = 115) caring for them rated their pain intensity on a VAS and ranked the importance of 12 factors in their assessments. ⋯ Patients' and nurses' VAS ratings were poorly correlated (rs = 0.35, p less than 0.001). The highest ranked factors in nurses' assessments were: what the patient said; the patient's report of the severity of pain; the patient's facial expression and the patient's posture. It was concluded that the prevalence of pain was high and that nurses' judgements were poor.