Documenting Pain Management

Chapter 9: Documenting Pain Management

Overview:

• Outlines how to assess pain on admission to the aged-care facility
• Discusses the different rating scales
• Outlines how to document unrecognised pain
• Describes the barriers to effective communication and documentation
• Outlines the correct procedures for pain documentation

Description:

The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as ‘an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.’ This chapter aims to convey correct pain documentation methods and the difficulties in communication that arise in aged-care.

Topics:

• Introduction
• Assessing pain on admission
• Rating scales
  • Numeric rating scale
  • McGill pain inventory
• Documentation and unrecognised pain
• Barriers to effective communication and documentation
  • Myths
  • Depression and anxiety
  • Education
  • Finding the right words
  • Nurses’ erroneous beliefs
• Procedures for pain documentation
  • Specific procedures for pain documentation
  • Standard documentation procedures
• Conclusion

Speaker/Author:

Michael Cully
Michael is a registered nurse with a degree in education, a graduate diploma in education and training and a master’s degree in nursing studies. He is a nurse educator at Ipswich Hospital (Queensland, Australia) with interests in mental-health nursing, care of older persons and aggression minimisation. Michael has a particular interest in the mechanics of clinical decision-making under conditions of uncertainty.

In his spare time, he listens to classical music, enjoys the company of his family, walks in the national parks of south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales and wonders whether the Carlton Football Club will ever win another premiership!

Professional Reviews: