Providing Comfort and Managing Pain Flashcards
What are the most essential “ingredients” one must have to care for someone who is experiencing pain or discomfort?
When providing pain management what must we be/do?
-Empathy
-Authentic presence and compassion
-Communication
-Advocacy
Be present, advocate ans communicate
What does it mean to provide comfort? What can it mean?
Providing comfort:
-attending to the individual’s complex physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs within a context of authentic presence and compassion.
Can mean just sitting quietly and paying attention - a challenging task for many of us who believe our hands must be always busy
definition of pain?
An unpleasant, subjective sensory AND emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.
This recognizes the physical and psychological nature of the pain experience
Sustained physiological responses to pain could cause?
Serious harm to an individual such as an altered immune system
What is the most common inital behavoural response to pain?
Anxiety
What are some other non-verbal behavioural responses to pain?
Bracing, splinting or protecting the painful part, rocking, body stiffinging, jaw clenching, grimacing, frowning, crying, moaning, or screaming can indicate pain is present
What kind of affective response can indicate pain?
Social withdrawal, changes in eating or sleep patterns, stoicism, fear, anxiety or feelings of hopelessness
What is Acute pain? If left untreated what can it lead to?
Usually has an identifiable cause that is either somatic, visceral, or nociceptive and is short duration (usually less then 6 months)
Acute pain has a predictable ending and an identifiable cause, and eventually resolves with or without treatment after a damaged area heals
-If left untreated it can lead to the development of chronic pain
What is the nurses primary goals in pain management?
Should be to prevent pain when ever possible and to effectively manage pain so that patients can participate in their own recovery
What is Chronic pain?
Defined as pain that persists the normal time of healing and is distinctly different from acute pain.
Chronic pain can be intermittent (occurs in a pattern) or presistent (lasting more than 12 hours)
-The pain may result from an injured area that healed long ago but continues to be nonresponsive to treatment
What kind of non pharmacological pain management techniques can we use?
The use of evidence-informed adaptive coping strategies such as cognitive-behavoural therapy, relaxation techniques, positive thinking, visual imagery and distraction
Nociceptive Pain?
Normal processing of stimuli that damages normal tissues or has the potential to do so if prolonged, usually responsive to nonopioids, opioids or both
Somatic pain?
Arises from bone, joint, muscle, skin, or connective tissue. It’s usually aching or throbbing in quality and is well localized
Visceral pain?
Arises from visceral organs, such as the GI tract and pancreas.
Can be subdivided into:
1.) Tumor involvement of the organ capsule, which causes aching and fairly well-localized pain
2.) Obstruction of hollow viscus, which causes intermittent cramping and poorly localized pain
How are toddlers and preschoolers able to express pain? How should we prepaire them for pain?
-Toddlers and preschoolers are often unable to recall explanations about pain, or they associate pain with experiences that can occur in various situations
-They may use verbal descriptors that differ from those used by older individuals
*To help prepare the child for a painful procedure ask the parents and child about terms that are most often used by the child to describe the pain experience and pain treatment and then use those terms when communicating about pain with the child
