Patient-Centered Pain Management

Patient-Centered Pain Management

Nurses play a critical role in patient pain management through assessment and patient advocacy. It is thus the nurses’ role to improve the pain experience of patients. Different approaches can be applied to improve pain experience among patients. First, nurses need to focus more on their patient advocacy role. Patient advocacy in nursing entails the promotion of patient safety and quality care. Thus, it is important for nurses to fulfill their advocacy role by educating patients on effective pain management strategies. For instance, nurses should educate patients about prescribed drugs and medication directions. Nurses should also educate patients about the risks of drug abuse and the importance of safe drug use. Educating patients will thus ensure medication adherence, thus improving pain experience. Nurses can also address pain experiences among patients by recommending non-pharmacological pain management strategies such as massage and relaxation techniques.

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The ongoing opioid pandemic can be largely blamed on nurses’ lack of knowledge about effective pain management in the US. Costello and Thompson (2015) reveal that there is a huge knowledge gap among nurses. Therefore, a viable solution would be to train nurses on the importance of patient education. Nurses need to understand their role in ensuring safe and quality health care. It is also important for nurses to receive opioid-specific training. They need to be aware of the risks of opioid abuse and safe practices in opioid administration. By receiving specific training, nurses will be better placed to educate patients on safe opioid use, thus reducing the cases of opioid abuse and related deaths. Pain management is a holistic process that involves assessment, intervention, and patient advocacy. Therefore, targeted patient education can help minimize opioid abuse, especially among the youth.

References

Costello, M., & Thompson, S. (2015). Preventing Opioid Misuse and Potential Abuse: The Nurse’s Role in Patient Education. Pain Management Nursing, 16(4), 515-519.

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You may select one article and respond to the following questions:

1. Based on your own experience or practice setting, how can we better address the pain experience of our patients?

2. What could be the possible solutions to the ongoing opioid epidemic in the US, and how does your perspective on pain management help reduce reliance on opioid use among your target population?