Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
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Since the profession began, nurses have sought to comfort through their healing presence and interventions. Clinical aromatherapy is an ancient practice finding new attention in modern-day health care to contribute to relief of symptoms of pain, anxiety and nausea. ⋯ This article describes the development and introduction of a clinical aromatherapy program into a hospital system using a train-the-trainer model. Lessons learned from the process and future considerations are also discussed.
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Pain is a widespread problem, affecting both men and women; studies have found that women in the emergency department receive analgesic medication and opioids less often compared with men. ⋯ We found differences in pain management between genders, which could be interpreted as gender discrimination. Yet these differences could also be attributed to other factors not based on gender discrimination but rather on gender differences.
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Discomfort is a concept found in the literature, usually related to pain. Some sources do not distinguish between pain and discomfort. Others refer to different sources of discomfort, thereby leading to a lack of conceptual clarity. ⋯ A clarification of the concept of discomfort leads to a more accurate theoretical and operational definition. This clarification can help nurses to make more accurate nursing diagnoses and develop methods to measure discomfort in order to provide optimal quality of nursing care.
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As a common complaint of patients with traumatic injuries, pain remains undermanaged in emergency departments (EDs). Our aim was to evaluate the effects of a nurse-initiated pain management protocol in patients with musculoskeletal injuries in an ED in Iran. ⋯ Education based on case study and the implementation of the nurse-initiated pain management protocol resulted in a significant increase in multimodal analgesia administration and a reduction in pain intensity, an increase in patient satisfaction, an improvement in the triage nurses' performance and the reduction of potential delays in pain management while maintaining the safety of patients with musculoskeletal trauma.
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To reduce chemotherapy-induced neuropathy (CIN)-a significant challenge among cancer patients following chemotherapy-we explored the effects of auricular point acupressure (APA), which involves needleless, acupuncture-like stimulation on specific ear points. ⋯ APA may provide an inexpensive and effective complementary approach for the self-management of CIN. Once the seeds have been taped to the patient's ear by the provider, patients are empowered to self-manage their CIN in their own environment.