Articles: pain-management.
-
Patients undergoing elective orthopaedic surgery may experience pain that is acute, chronic or a combination of the two, with less than half of all surgical patients reporting adequate pain relief. The National Association of Orthopaedic Nurses (NAON) and the American Society for Pain Management Nursing (ASPMN) have partnered to provide evidence-informed guidance to empower nurses to employ effective pain management. Understanding and applying ethical, evidence-informed, patient-focused, interprofessional interventions will improve outcomes for patients, clinicians, and healthcare organizations. Together, we encourage nurses to embrace the guiding principles presented in this Position Statement to provide optimal pain management for the orthopaedic patient.
-
J Pain Symptom Manage · Jun 2022
Behaviours of patients who take their strong opioids as unmeasured 'sips'.
Some patients take their strong opioid painkillers as unmeasured sips. ⋯ This is the first published study exploring the behavior of patients who take their strong analgesia as unmeasured sips. Knowing that patients who sip are likely to be taking an incorrect dose, and the reasons behind sipping may help clinicians to help these patients to manage their pain better.
-
The majority of patients in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) experience pain daily, while nonpharmacologic interventions are indicated for pain management in children, there is limited information on which nonpharmacologic interventions are provided in the PICU and which patients receive those interventions. The aim of this descriptive correlational secondary data analysis was to determine what nonpharmacologic interventions were recorded in the electronic health record of PICU patients and patterns in use by patient demographics. ⋯ Nonpharmacologic pain management is applied inconsistently across PICUs and may be underdocumented or underutilized. Additional research is needed to determine when nurses use nonpharmacologic pain interventions, their rationale for applying these interventions across differing groups, and the effectiveness of these interventions in managing pain in critically ill children.
-
This study describes the characteristics of hand trauma treated in community-based emergency centers (CBECs) in Israel. It was hypothesized that the rate of hand trauma, as well as patient and injury characteristics, would differ from a recent study of patients treated in hospital emergency departments (EDs) in Jerusalem. ⋯ A higher rate of hand trauma was found in the CBECs in comparison to the hospital ED report (35% vs. 20% of all trauma patients, respectively). Patients treated at the CBECs, in comparison to the ED, were less often male, less often young adults, and differed in terms of type of injury. In the CBECs there were more contusions, as well as fewer lacerations and open wound injuries. In contrast, dog bites in children were found to be much more prevalent than previously reported. Hospital referral indications, the use of immobilization and pain management were found to vary according to age, gender and treatment center. Due to the high rate of hand trauma in CBECs, specific protocols are needed for these patients. The use of opioids should be specifically addressed, considering recent changes in treatment protocols. Thus, the prevalence and characteristics of hand trauma may be biased in studies based on hospital records.