Week 1: Pain Assessment Flashcards
why is understanding pain important? (3 points)
- it’s a universal symptom experienced by everyone
- can have a profound impact on client function, quality of life, relationships, etc
- nurses help patients understand pain
how does the international association for the study of pain define pain?
“an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual and potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such”
what are the 6 steps that describe the physiology of pain?
-impulse is sensed from PNS
- PNS info travels to the spinal cord/CNS
-CNS determines whether pain may be blocked/allowed to continue
-if allowed, the info travels to the thalamus
- info then travels to the limbic system, where emotions to control pain are produced
-finally the info ends at the cerebral cortex, where pain will be recognized
what are the 4 components of pain?
- sensory
-emotional/affective
-cognitive
-social
what are the 4 ways to classify pain?
- duration: acute vs chronic
- frequency: continuous vs intermittent
- form: nociceptive vs neuropathic
- associated with cancer
what are the 7 types of pain?
- nociceptive
- neuropathic
- visceral
- somatic
- cutaneous
- referred
- parietal
what is nociceptive pain?
inflicted pain (tissue damage)
what is neuropathic pain?
nerve pain, the pain is real but there is no physical reason for it
what is visceral pain?
due to injury of an organ
what is somatic pain?
“felt” pain- sensory pain
what is cutaneous pain?
superficial/skin pain
what is referred pain?
pain felt in one part of the body, but origin is in a different location
what is parietal pain?
pain in the lining inside of the abdomen
what are red flags of an acute pain assessment?
- sudden onset (explosive headache, painful breathing, chest pain, abdominal pain, severe pain unrelieved by appropriate medication)
-new onset, undiscernible cause
what to do when presented with red flags during an acute pain assessment?
- focused/emergent history
- involve others, family/witnesses
- observation of the patient and their behaviours
what are the factors influencing pain in the patient’s experience?
- age
- gender
- culture
-spiritual - family and social support
- the personal meaning of pain
- level of anxiety
- coping style
- fatigue
- previous experiences of pain
what is the role of the nurse dealing with a patient experiencing pain?
- to observe and notice/monitor changes
- reassessment of pain
- documentation of pain
- make recommendations based on assessments
- advocate for patients
- explore treatment options with client
what are the effects of poorly managed pain?
- reduced cognitive/mental function
- sleeplessness, anxiety, fear
- high blood sugar (hyperglycemia)
- increased HR, increased CO
- decreased depth of respiration, decreased cough, sputum retention
- decreased immune system response
- muscle spasm, immobility
- decreased gastric and bowel mobility
- decreased urinary output
- increased suffering for the client and loved ones
- potential for development of chronic pain
what are the 8 ways to assess pain?
- OLDCARTSS
- QPQRTSU
- numeric pain severity scale
- pain/distress severity scale
- visual analogue scale-FACES
- FLACC
- brief pain inventory
- universal pain assessment tool
