ABSTRACT
What are effective strategies for teaching and molding attitudes toward pain management? Nursing responsibility for pain management involves a complex decision-making process affected by many variables. Traditional pain management classes omit critical content and strategies that may affect implementation of the information. Techniques and resources for the educator planning pain management programs are presented in this article. Achieving positive changes in behavior related to pain management requires a well-developed plan that incorporates model-based instruction in both cognitive and affective domains.
Subject(s)
Education, Nursing, Continuing/methods , Inservice Training/methods , Nursing Staff/education , Nursing Staff/psychology , Pain/nursing , Pain/prevention & control , Teaching/methods , Adaptation, Psychological , Attitude of Health Personnel , Decision Making , Ethics, Nursing , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Humans , Models, Educational , Models, Nursing , Nurse-Patient Relations , Nursing Education Research , Nursing Theory , Pain/psychologyABSTRACT
The number of painful conditions and diseases increase as elders live longer. Pain can alter physical functioning and quality of life, and pain assessment in this unique population is a special challenge because pain can affect cognitive status, mood, and function. When the elder presents with pain, the practitioner must often deal with vague comments, reluctance to describe pain, and degrees of cognitive impairment. This article provides information on how to address barriers to pain assessment and current research that will help the practitioner devise strategies to obtain the data for an accurate and valid pain assessment.
