Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
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Pain in people with dementia is a common occurrence. Providing evidence-based pain management for people with dementia in residential aged care services is imperative to providing quality care. However, it remains unclear from current research how various aged care staff (Registered Nurses (RNs), Enrolled Nurses (ENs), Personal Care Assistants (PCAs)) engage at specific points of the pain management pathway. With structural changes to the residential aged care workforce over the past two decades, understanding the relative contributions of these aged care staff to pain management practices is crucial for future practice development. ⋯ Despite the high prevalence of pain in people with dementia in aged care settings, current pain management documentation does not reflect best practice standards. Future capacity building initiatives must engage PCAs, as key stakeholders in pain management, with support and clinical leadership of nursing staff.
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Despite strong evidence that repeated pain exposure in neonates is associated with adverse outcomes, pain assessment and management continues to be less than optimal in most neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). ⋯ Increased efforts are needed to promote consistent pain assessment and management to ensure optimal outcomes for vulnerable at risk neonates.
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Pain is one of the most common symptoms experienced by patients in acute care hospitals and acutely ill patients experience both acute and chronic pain. Unrelieved pain can have a profound negative impact on individuals' functional status, well-being, quality of life, and satisfaction with care. For providers, managing pain can be challenging. While the numeric rating scale is widely accepted and used, it measures only pain intensity. CAPA® pain assessment offers an alternative approach in which providers have a conversation with patients about pain and how it impacts five key areas. ⋯ CAPA® is recommended as a supporting assessment to evaluate patients' pain experience in acute care.
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Preverbal children are at increased risk for underassessment of pain. Pain is a social transaction involving the child in pain and the nurse assessor. However, our understanding of the nurse's part in this transaction is limited. ⋯ Nurses preferred pain assessment based on clinical judgment and tailored to the individual child. Implementation strategies that aim to integrate structured pain scales with clinical judgment to assess pain may be more likely to succed. Further examination of this approach is warranted.