Pain Management In Nursing

To manage pain effectively, a nurse must assess, understand, and treat the patient’s pain and then reassess the pain on an ongoing basis. The Joint Commission emphasizes that every patient has a right to pain assessment and treatment. It means that a nurse must assess the nature and intensity of the pain and document the findings in a way that facilitates further assessment and follow-up. In that context, pain is indeed the fifth vital sign ("Pain Management," n.d.).
The nurse will assess Lillian pain by asking if she is in pain, and if she answer yes, then the nurse will perform a thorough pain assessment, including the intensity, quality, location, timing (onset, duration, frequency), symptoms, treatments (prescription and nonprescription),
How long have you had the pain? Does it come and go or is it continuous? Where is the pain located? Does it radiate to other areas? Describe your pain. Is there a specific factor that triggers the pain? Does the pain have any specific pattern? Does anything make it better or worse? Does it vary with the time of day? Is the pain new or have you had this pain before? If so, when? Does the pain cause any other symptoms? What do you do take to ease the pain? What other treatments do you use to relieve the pain? How severe is the pain? (Remember to use a pain scale to determine this.) How does the pain affect your life? Your daily activities? What is your goal for pain
References
Lilley, L. L., Collins, S. R., & Snyder, J. S. (2014). Pharmacology and the nursing process (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.
PainManagement.(n.d.).Retrievedfromhttp://www.atitesting.com/ati_next_gen/skillsmodules/content/pain-management/equipment/pain-assessment.html
Zolpidem Uses, Dosage & Side Effects - Drugs.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.drugs.com/zolpidem.html
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