Best Practice Guideline Review. Health, Medicine, Nursing Essay

Best Practice Guideline Review
Name:
Institutional Affiliation:
Date:
Best Practice Guideline Review
1 What is breakthrough pain and how can it be managed?
Breakthrough pain refers to the sudden surge in pain that occurs between the regular administrations of analgesics to patients suffering from chronic diseases. Prompt treatment according to the type (of pain) and the pharmacological treatment of the patient is the appropriate way to manage breakthrough pain. The pharmacological administration depends on whether the patient is currently taking opioids and the availability of intravenous (IV) modes for alternation. For patients who are opioid naïve, 5-10 mg IV every ten minutes until the pain is relieved in cases where IV treatment is available. For non-opioid patients without IV, 5-10mg of morphine within 20-30 minutes intervals is the appropriate way to manage breakthrough pain. When the patient is on opioid medication, IV administration for 10 minutes, and oral administration for every 20-30 minutes prn until pain, the pain is relieved.
2 How often should a nurse Asses for pain?
According to the RNAO's best practice guidelines for assessment and management, patients who are at risk for pain should be screened at least once a day. Nurses should conduct pain assessment procedures on patients upon admission with vital signs and before, during, and after potentially painful interventions.
3 What kind of questions should you ask to conduct a comprehensive assessment of pain?
When assessing pain, nurses follow a systematic approach to ensure that they address all the required parameters for comprehensive identification and diagnosis. To achieve this, there are elements that the assessment has to address including previous pain history, sensory characteristics of the pain, and its impact on usual everyday activities, psychological effects (on self and others) as well as past interventions used in pain management.
* History- when did it begin? How often does it occur?
* Sensory characteristics- can you describe the pain as throbbing, aching or burning?
* Psychological effects- how is the pain impacting you and your family? does it interfere with your job?
* Previous pain interventions- what treatment have you used in the past? Are you currently receiving any medications?
4 What might prevent a patient from reporting pain?
Patients ascribe to different beliefs and concerns that can cause them to underreport or completely prevent them from reporting their pain, which can bar the assessment and management of pain. Some of the reasons include:
* Fear of addiction, especially about opioid related medications.
* Concerns about their drug tolerance making them to choose pain over medication
* Some patients doubt the ability of the therapy to suppress the pain
* The belief that reporting or complaining about the pain is ignoble and distracting
* Some choose to suppress their pain due the belief that...