- Acute
- Chronic
Related To: [Check those that apply]
- Postoperative pain
- Cardiovascular pain
- Musculoskeletal pain
- Obstetrical pain
- Pain resulting from medical problems
- Pain resulting from diagnostic procedures or medical treatments
- Pain resulting from trauma
- Pain resulting from emotional, psychological, spiritual, or cultural distress
As evidenced by: [Check those that apply]
- Patient reports pain
- Guarding behavior, protecting body part
- Self-focused
- Narrowed focus (altered time perception, withdrawal from social or physical contact)
- Relief or distraction behavior (e.g., moaning, crying, pacing, seeking out other people or activities, restlessness)
- Facial mask of pain
- Alteration in muscle tone: listlessness or flaccidness; rigidity or tension
- Autonomic responses not seen in chronic, stable pain (e.g., diaphoresis; change in blood pressure (BP), pulse rate; pupillary dilations; change in respiratory rate; pallor; nausea)
Patient’s Diagnosis: –
Date:-
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- verbalizes adequate relief of pain or ability to cope with incompletely relieved pain.
- Others
Note: you need to indicate time frame/target as objective must be measurable.
| Nursing Interventions | Scientific Rationale |
|---|---|
| Assess pain characteristics (e.g., quality, severity, location, onset, duration, and precipitating factors). | This will help to guide clinical decision. |
| Observe or monitor signs and symptoms associated with pain, such as BP, heart rate, temperature, color and moisture of skin, restlessness, and ability to focus. | Some people deny the experience of pain when present. Attention to associated signs may help the nurse in evaluating pain. |
| Assess for probable cause of pain. | Different etiologic factors respond better to different therapies. |
| Evaluate patient's response to pain and medications or therapeutics aimed at abolishing or relieving pain. | It is important to help patients express as factually as possible (i.e., without the effect of mood, emotion, or anxiety) the effect of pain relief measures. |
| Assess to what degree cultural, environmental, intrapersonal, and intrapsychic factors may contribute to pain or pain relief. | These variables may modify the patient's expression of his or her experience. |
| Evaluate what the pain means to the individual. | The meaning of the pain will directly influence the patient's response. Some patients, especially the dying, may feel that the act of suffering" meets a spiritual need." |
| Assess patient's expectations for pain relief. | Some patients may be content to have pain decreased; others will expect complete elimination of pain. This affects their perceptions of the effectiveness of the treatment modality and their willingness to participate in additional treatments. |
| Assess patient's willingness or ability to explore a range of techniques aimed at controlling pain. | Some patients will feel uncomfortable exploring alternative methods of pain relief. |
| Anticipate need for pain relief. | One can most effectively deal with pain by preventing it. Early intervention may decrease the total amount of analgesic required. |
| Respond immediately to complaint of pain. | In the midst of painful experiences patient's perception of time may become distorted. Prompt responses to complaints may result in decreased anxiety in patient. |
| Eliminate additional stressors or sources of discomfort whenever possible. | Patients may experience an exaggeration in pain or a decreased ability to tolerate painful stimuli if environmental, intrapersonal, or intrapsychic factors are further stressing them. |
| Provide rest periods to facilitate comfort, sleep, and relaxation. | The patient's experiences of pain may become exaggerated as the result of fatigue. |
| Give analgesics as ordered, evaluating effectiveness and observing for any signs and symptoms of untoward effects. | Pain medications are absorbed and metabolized differently by patients, so their effectiveness must be evaluated from patient to patient. |
| Notify physician if interventions are unsuccessful or if current complaint is a significant change from patient's past experience of pain. | Patients who request pain medications at more frequent intervals than prescribed may actually require higher doses or more potent analgesics. |
| Whenever possible, reassure patient that pain is time-limited and that there is more than one approach to easing pain. | When pain is perceived as everlasting and unresolvable, patient may give up trying to cope with or experience a sense of hopelessness and loss of control. |
| Instruct patient to report pain. | So that relief measures may be instituted. |
| Teach patient preoperatively. | So that anesthesia effects do not obscure teaching. |
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