Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
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Sedation practices in the critical care unit have been trending toward lighter sedation since the start of the new millennium, but patients continue to experience inadequate pain management and excessive sedation. This paper includes a brief examination of the problem of pain management in the ICU; trends in sedation practices, including light sedation and the daily interruption of sedation; and a literature review of analgosedation. While the analgosedation literature is relatively sparse, it offers a promising, patient-centered method for managing the triad of pain, agitation, and delirium, while reducing common complications associated with long-term ventilation. This paper concludes with a recommended method for analgosedation, the nursing implications, and a discussion of limitations and recommendations.
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Interest in satisfaction with pain management as a pain-related outcome variable wavered when investigators found poor correlations with pain intensity when they measured satisfaction with pain management rather than satisfaction with pain level. The aim was to explore the relationship between satisfaction with pain level and pain intensity among patients receiving ongoing outpatient cancer care. In a comparative, secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional sample of 806 cancer patients (57% male, mean age 56 ± 13 years, 77% Caucasian), the authors measured satisfaction with pain level as a single item (yes, no, not sure) and pain intensity as an average of current, least, and worst pain intensity (all 0-10 scales) in the past 24 hours. ⋯ With pair wise post hoc comparisons, mean API scores of satisfied patients were significantly lower than those who were not satisfied or not sure. In contrast with other researchers who have not found associations between satisfaction with pain management and pain intensity, the authors demonstrated that when satisfaction is measured specifically, patients with higher pain intensity are not satisfied. The authors recommend that researchers use "satisfaction with pain level" instead of "satisfaction with pain management" as the pain satisfaction outcome.
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The foundation of safe and effective pain management is an individualized, comprehensive pain assessment, which includes, but is not limited to, determining the intensity of pain if the patient is able to report it. An unforeseen consequence of the widespread use of pain intensity rating scales is the practice of prescribing specific doses of opioid analgesics based solely on specific pain intensity. Many factors in addition to pain intensity influence opioid requirements, and there is no research showing that a specific opioid dose will relieve pain of a specific intensity in all patients. The American Society for Pain Management Nursing (ASPMN) holds the position that the practice of prescribing doses of opioid analgesics based solely on a patient's pain intensity should be prohibited because it disregards the relevance of other essential elements of assessment and may contribute to untoward patient outcomes.
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Pregnancy is often a time when chronic pain is exacerbated, or when acute pain appears. Frequently the easiest intervention within reach, for both chronic and acute pain, is a prescription. However, medication cannot correct the cause of the pain; instead it alters the person's experiential perception of the pain. ⋯ Levels of pain and comfort were measured before and after the treatment, using the validated General Comfort Questionnaire and Pain Outcomes Profile. Pain scores decreased from an average of 5.8/10 to 3.5/10 (p = .00). Comfort scores increased from an average of 17.5 to 30 (p = .00).
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Randomized Controlled Trial
The Effects of Aromatherapy Massage and Reflexology on Pain and Fatigue in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Nonpharmacologic interventions for symptom management in patients with rheumatoid arthritis are underinvestigated. Limited data suggest that aromatherapy massage and reflexology may help to reduce pain and fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The aim of this study was to examine and compare the effects of aromatherapy massage and reflexology on pain and fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. ⋯ Pain and fatigue scores significantly decreased in the aromatherapy massage and reflexology groups compared with the control group (p < .05). The reflexology intervention started to decrease mean pain and fatigue scores earlier than aromatherapy massage (week 1 vs week 2 for pain, week 1 vs week 4 for fatigue) (p < .05). Aromatherapy massage and reflexology are simple and effective nonpharmacologic nursing interventions that can be used to help manage pain and fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.