Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
-
Randomized Controlled Trial
The Feasibility and Efficacy of Self-help Relaxation Exercise in Symptom Distress in Patients With Adult Acute Leukemia: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.
To examine the feasibility and efficacy of self-help relaxation exercises in alleviating symptom distress in adult patients with acute leukemia (AL). ⋯ Self-help relaxation exercises were feasible for the AL patients and significantly reduced their pain symptoms. Minor revision of the protocol for future definitive trials is needed.
-
The demand for access to Australian pain management services is growing. The dual crisis of opioid misuse and chronic pain, means pain nurses and nurse practitioners (NPs) have a unique opportunity to meet clinical demands and advance their scope of practice. ⋯ Pain nurses have a breadth of knowledge and experience highlight they can contribute to opioid management in the future, with the support of policy and organizations.
-
Case Reports Observational Study
A Pilot Study on Pain Assessment Using the Japanese Version of the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool.
Critically ill patients experience various types of pain that are difficult to assess because patients cannot communicate verbally due to artificial airways and sustained sedation. The Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) objectively evaluates patients' pain. ⋯ The CPOT-J can assess pain in mechanically ventilated patients, but being immobile results in a score of 0 for body movement (e.g., being immobile while feeling back pain) and is a limitation of the scoring.
-
Chronic pain, and the ethical management thereof, is the single most imperative health issue of this decade. Although a growing majority of individuals with chronic pain are middle-aged, the largest proportion of sufferers are older adults. ⋯ Yet, nurses and other health professionals have an opportune position to provide expert pain care by proactively providing evidence-based care for patients systematically. The purpose of this article is to stimulate discussion on three paradigms important to population-focused pain management: (1) prevention; (2) restoration and rehabilitation; and (3) palliation, which are in line with current national policy initiatives for improving patients' care experience, improving overall health and quality of life, and reducing associated health care costs.
-
It is morally distressing when a healthcare provider sees patients with undertreated pain but is unable to provide adequate relief because of a surrogate's refusal of such treatment. This issue might occur when there is no clear advanced directive that represents patients' wishes for treatment, and can be further complicated when patients are of minority cultural backgrounds. ⋯ This case highlights the ethical dilemma of withholding opioid treatment in a patient with advanced cancer. We conclude that the obligation to treat pain should be understood beyond the authority of surrogate refusal, in favor of patient quality of life, when an advance directive is not in place.