Week 1-4 Flashcards
Why is Pain Assessment Important?
- Universal symptom experienced by everyone at a certain point in their lives
- Pain is primary reason clients access healthcare in Canada
- It has a profound impact on the client’s function, quality of life, relations, family structure, and financial resources
- Nurses most often assess and help manage a client’s pain
- everyone experiences at a different extent and some live with chronic diseases that come with pain or acute injuries
What does the International Association for the Study of Pain state?
” an unpleasant emotional and sensory experience associated with actual and potential tissue damage, or describes in terms of such”
4 Components of Pain
- Sensory/Physical
- action of the pain nerves and effect on physiological status, severity ; stimuli continues until medications stops it - Emotional
- how the pain makes the client feel, fear, knowledge; - Cognitive
- effect on behaviour, coping strategies, what does it mean - Social
- behaviour influenced by cues from others and their reactions, how do you react and respond
Different ways to classify pain
- Duration
- acute vs. chronic - Frequency
- continuous or intermittent (come and go) - Form
- nociceptive(damage to tissues) vs. neuropathic(nerve pain) - Associated with Cancer
- pain due to cancer or treatment of cancer
Types of Pain
- Nociceptive vs. Neuropathic
- Visceral
- organ pain - Somatic
- felt pain - Cutaneous
- superficial, skin layers - Referred
- pain is happening but the origin is somewhere else - Parietal
- inflammation of abdomen lining
Acute Pain Assessment
Sudden onset is a red flag
- explosive headache, chest pain, painful breathing, abdominal pain, pain that is not being relieved by medications
What to do
- take a focused/emergent history
- involve others, family/witnesses
- observe patient and their behaviour
Most reliable indicator of the existence of pain and its intensity os the client’s description of it
The Patient’s Experience: Factors Influencing their Pain
age
gender
cultural
spiritual
family and social support
personal meaning of pain
level of anxiety
fatigue
coping style
previous experiences of pain
Role of Nurse - Pain
- The nurse’s are with the patient the most
- In the best position to observe and notice/monitor changes
- Important function is the reassessment of pain, follow up is key
- Document pain, responses to pain, assessments, and outcomes of various treatments
- Make recommendations - advocate for modifications in treatment plan, communicate client’s wishes and consultations with other services
Effects of Poorly Managed Pain
Overall decrease in Quality of Life
- reduced cognitive/mental function
- anxiety, sleeplessness
- High blood sugar
- Increase HR, cardiac output
- Decreased depth of respirations, cough, sputum retention
- Decreased immune response
- Muscle spasm, immobility
- decreased gastric and bowel motility and urinary output
Multiple Ways to assess Pain
- OLDCARTTS
- OQRSTU
- Numeric Pain Severity scale
- Pain/Distress Severity scale
- Universal Pain Assessment Tool
- FLACC
- FACES
- Brief Pain Inventory
Risk Factors of Cardiovascular Disease
- Family history
- Increased age
- Increased BP
- Elevated Cholesterol
- High Blood Sugar(DM)
- Obesity
- Cigarette Smoking
- Diet, Sodium
- Sedentary lifestyle
- For Females - after menopause
Signs and Symptoms of Potential CV Problem
- pain in neck, jaw, chest, left shoulder and arm, subscapular, and stomach pain
- Shortness of Breath - dyspnea, orthopnea, paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea
- cough
- diaphoresis (sweating when seated)
- lightheadedness
- pain in limbs, ulcers to lower extremities
- fatigue
- indigestion/heartburn
- nausea and vomiting
- edema
- pressure…
- nocturia
- palpations/dysrhythmia
- racing heart
- pre syncope/syncope (fainting)
Assessment of CV System - History
- demographics/SDOH
- OLDCARTSS
- current and recent symptoms
- associated symptoms
- inquire about respiratory concerns
- ask about risk factors
- discuss family history
- ask past medical history, allergies, and medications
- social history
- functional ability (IADLS/ADLS)
Physical Assessment
Vital Signs
- start with this
- think about results and compare them
- interpret results in the patient’s own context
- how are the vital signs related to each other and/or if they have an influence
- do findings require urgent action or monitoring
Inspection
- general survey
- skin colour
- respirations
- speech patterns
- size and shape of thorax
- diaphoresis
- fingers ( nail beds, clubbing)
- landmarks
- abnormal pulsations
Palpations of Pulses
- rate, rhythm, strength
Objective Data : Auscultation - Unexpected Heart Sounds
Murmurs
- turbulence causing a swooshing or blowing sound
- result of cardiac abnormalities (increased blood velocity, structural valve defects and valve malfunction, abnormal chamber openings)
Bruits
- turbulent flow
- results of partial obstruction sites (carotids, abdominal aortic, renal, iliac, femoral)
Landmarking - PMI
Aortic
Pulmonic
ERB
Tricuspid
Mitral
S1+S2
S1
- loudest at apex
- AV valve closure ( mitral and tricuspid valves, bet. chambers)
- beginning of systole
S2
- loudest at base
- SL valve closure (aortic and pulmonic valves, out to body/lungs)
- beginning of diastole