A patient calls out on the call system and requests pain medication. We know that patients are to rate their pain on a scale. If the pain is unrelated to the admission diagnosis, what steps will you take in providing a proper assessment?

A patient calls out on the call system and requests pain medication. We know that patients are to rate their pain on a scale. If the pain is unrelated to the admission diagnosis, what steps will you take in providing a proper assessment?

A patient calls out on the call system and requests pain medication. We know that patients are to rate their pain on a scale. If the pain is unrelated to the admission diagnosis, what steps will you take in providing a proper assessment?

Pain Assessment 

Pain is a common complaint in many hospital visits. It may have various functional limitations and can impact the quality of life of patients (Yam et al., 2018). The purpose of this paper is to describe a pain assessment approach for a patient. Various pain assessment tools exist and these can be applied to determine the type of pain and gauge whether it is acute or chronic pain. Initially, the history of the pain can be queried. This includes asking the patient questions such as the character, location, duration, onset, timing relieving factors, severity and even associated factors of the pain. These may point to a diagnosis that may direct appropriate treatment. Additionally, pain scales can be applied.

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Pain scales utilized include single and multidimensional scales. For single-dimensional scales, the patient can subjectively describe pain intensity by numeric, verbal or visual scales. In verbal rating, the patient can define the intensity as mild, moderate or severe. In visual scales, various options are available. Some include human body pictures where the patent can highlight locations of pain. These can even apply to multisystemic diseases which may involve more than one location. Other options include patients marking on a line to designate their pain. The start of the line indicates a pain-free zone while the end indicates the most severe pain imaginable. In numerical scales, a scale ranging from 0 to 10 may be used where 0 defines being pain-free while 10 marks the most severe pain possible (Pathak et al., 2018). These can ideally yield valuable information.

Multidimensional pain scales may obtain more elaborative information from the patient including the location, nature and possible effect on the life of the patient. One of the tools applicable is the Clinically Aligned Pain Assessment Tool (CAPA) where a patient can be asked about the nature, progress and general effects of the pain on functionality and comfort. The Brief Pain Inventory and questionnaires such as the revised APS Outcome Questionnaire can also be applied (Petti et al., 2018). These may provide more information on the effects and severity of the pain.

Conclusion

Pain is subjective and is a common presentation in hospitals. Assessing pain may include pain history taking in combination with tools to gauge and determine the type of pain. Pain may have effects on the functionality of individuals and thus may affect the quality of life.

References

Pathak, A., Sharma, S., & Jensen, M. P. (2018). The utility and validity of pain intensity rating scales for use in developing countries. PAIN Reports, 3(5), e672. https://doi.org/10.1097/pr9.0000000000000672

Petti, E., Scher, C., Meador, L., Van Cleave, J. H., & Reid, M. C. (2018). Can Multidimensional Pain Assessment Tools Help Improve Pain Outcomes in the Perianesthesia Setting? Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, 33(5), 767–772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2018.07.010

Yam, M., Loh, Y., Tan, C., Khadijah Adam, S., Abdul Manan, N., & Basir, R. (2018). General Pathways of Pain Sensation and the Major Neurotransmitters Involved in Pain Regulation. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 19(8), 2164. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19082164

A patient calls out on the call system and requests pain medication. We know that patients are to rate their pain on a scale. If the pain is unrelated to the admission diagnosis, what steps will you take in providing a proper assessment?