Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
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Understanding factors associated with risk of pain allows residents and clinicians to plan care and set priorities, however, factors associated with pain in nursing home residents has not been conclusively studied. ⋯ Pain remains a pressing problem for NH residents. In this study, we identified demographic and clinical factors associated with moderate to severe frequent pain and persistent pain. Residents with a diagnosis of AD/ADRD were less likely to report pain, likely representing the difficulty of evaluating pain in these residents. It is important to note that those with cognitive impairment may not experience any less pain, but assessment and reporting difficulties may make them appear to have less pain. Knowledge of factors associated with pain for NH residents has the potential for improving the ability to predict, prevent, and provide better pain care in NH residents.
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Nurses assess patients' pain using several validated tools. It is not known what disparities exist in pain assessment for medicine inpatients. Our purpose was to measure differences in pain assessment across patient characteristics, including race, ethnicity, and language status. ⋯ Asian patients and patients with LEP were less likely than other patient groups to have a numeric pain assessment and received the fewest opioids. These inequities may serve as the basis for the development of equitable pain assessment protocols.
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Post-stroke pain in patients with an inability to communicate is not systematically assessed and therefore not sufficiently treated. This stresses the need to study pain assessment instruments that do not require good communication skills. ⋯ The PACSLAC-D captures pain in patients with aphasia who are unable to self-report, during ADL and physiotherapy, but may be less accurate during rest.
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Chronic pain is a worldwide public health challenge. Despite chronic pain having biopsychosocial dimensions, its social contexts are less investigated. Although current evidence shows that chronic pain shapes and is shaped by interactions with romantic partners, research about friendships and chronic pain is scarce, and mostly focused on adolescents. ⋯ This study stresses the relevance of including adult friends in interventions to reduce the negative effect of chronic pain on friendships, harnessing their power to promote chronic pain adjustment. The findings bring new insights on a topic that has rarely been investigated in the pain field, hence pointing out innovative directions for future research and practice.
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For over 100 years, psychophysics ..÷ the scientific study between physical stimuli and sensation ... has been successfully employed in numerous scientific and healthcare disciplines, as an objective measure of sensory phenomena. This manuscript provides an overview of fundamental psychophysical concepts, emphasizing pain and research application..÷defining common terms, methods, and procedures. ⋯ The interdisciplinary nature of psychophysics..÷like nursing..÷provides a unique lens for understanding how our perceptions are influenced by measurable sensations. While the quest to understand human perception is far from complete, nursing science has an opportunity to contribute to pain research by using the techniques and methods available through psychophysical procedures.