Pain Assessment Flashcards
Pain tolerance
Intensity of pain a person will endure
Assessing pain for?
– Location – Onset – Duration – Frequency – Intensity – Quality – Precipitating and alleviating factors – Examine pain site – Associated symptoms
Psychosocial factors influencing pain
– Socio-cultural – Environment - distractions and emotions - past experiences and anxiety - values
Physical factors influencing pain
– Pain threshold
- pain tolerance
- Age
- physical activity and nervous system integrity
- surgery and anesthesia
Primary nursing goal of pain
Provide pain relief that allows patient to participate in their recovery
Pseudoaddiction
Person with chronic pain who consults with numerous health care providers is labeled a drug seeker, when he/she is actually seeking pain relief
Chronic episodic pain
Pain that occurs sporadically over an extended period of time
Cancer pain
Caused by tumor progression and related pathological process, invasive procedures, Toxicity of treatment, infection, and physical limitations
Nociceptive pain
Includes somatic (musculoskeletal) and visceral (internal organ) pain
Idiopathic pain
Chronic pain in the absence of a identifiable physical or psychological cause or pain perceived as excessive for the extent of an organic pathological condition
A B C’s of pain management
Ask Believe Choose control option Deliver Empower
Pain assessment mnemonic –PQRST
Provoked Quality Region Severity Timing
Somatogenic pain
Physical origin – rises from tissue
Pshchogenic pain
Mental and emotional
Intractable pain
Constant pain and resistant to treatment
Intermittent
comes and goes
referred pain
Pain felt somewhere but actual cause is somewhere else
Radiating pain
Away from the origin
Wong-Baker faces pain rating scale
Point to each face using the words to describe pain intensity. Ask a child to choose face that best describes their pain
Pain
Unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage
Who is at highest risk for pain in the medical – surgical nursing?
Older adults, substance abusers, and those whose primary language differs from the healthcare professional
Psychosocial assessment of pain
Remain objective and advocate for the proper pain control
Ask open ended questions
Allow patient to describe personal attitudes about pain and its influence on life
Challenges in assessing pain
Nonverbal pain indicators
Patients with dementia
Patients who are mechanically ventilated
Pain is subjective or objective?
Subjective – opinion, whereas objective is facts
Pain threshold
Point at which a stimulus causes pain sensation
