Pain Assessment Flashcards
Assessing pain in
-verbal patients
- non verbal patients
- neonates, unconscious, acutely ill patients
- cognitive impairment
Verbal report - most reliable and accurate form of assessment
Observational assessment
- non verbal responses to pain are shaped by social norms and expectations around us
- may not present how we’d expect
Assessment tools
- when to use them
- pros and cons
Body map - exact location
-can use different colours for different intensities
Numerical scale
- sensitive to changes in pain
- verbal or physically assessed
Verbal scale
- no pain/mild/moderate/severe
- can use own adjectives
- less sensitive than numerical scale
Visual analogue scale
- very sensitive
- relies on ability to conceptualise pain on a line
- requires good eyesite, dexterity
ALWAYS ASSESS PAIN AT REST, MV,
Use tools in the language of the patient
Pain history taking
- when you have time
- when you don’t have time
SOCRATES SOCS (site, onset, character, severity)
Neuropathic pain assessment
- tools used
- what do they assess
Brief pain inventory
- location
- severity of pain at its worst, best, in the moment, on average
- relief with pain management
- impacts on daily life
S-LANSS Pain Score - assesses the likelihood of the pain being neuropathic in nature
Pain Detect
- similar to Brief pain inventory but also assesses the pattern and characteristics of pain
- screens for the likelihood of neuropathic pain
Frequency of pain assessment
Depends on
- nature of pain
- breadth and depth of assessment
- frequency of patient contact
Following trauma, postop, analgesia administration
Tools for assessing pain in chilldren
Wong-Baker faces pain rating scale
FLACC scale - preverbal children
-assess from physical movements and reactions
Assessing pain in older adults
Strong associations between pain and depression, each is a risk factor for the other
-loneliness, social isolation also associated with increased risk of pain
These signs may be indicators of existing pain or predictors for future pain onset
