Why Is Pain Poorly Assessed

Pain Management and Nursing Practice (NSB602)
“Why is pain still not being assessed adeqately”?
Rebecca Francis – (N8537305)
Robyn Nash













Pain is a fundamental form of physical suffering and discomfort caused by illness or injury and the types of pain varies for each individual. Merskey & Bogduk (2013) defined pain as “an unpleasant sensory or emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage”. It is important to have effective pain management within health care settings as pain can have a negative impact on a patient’s healing process and overall health outcome (Vadivelu, Mitra, & Narayan, 2010). This could lead to further decreased health conditions as well as increase the length of stay in hospital (Vadivelu, Mitra, & Narayan, 2010). Unfortunately there are many factors and barriers that could hinder a patient from receiving effective pain management.
Pain is entirely individual. The perception as well as coping mechanism for one person may be completely different for another (Nielsen, Staud, & Price, 2009).
Pain can affect everyone differently in different situations, however in a health care setting pain is more commonly found in the elderly, the ill, as well as in sports persons. The prevalence is due to pathophysiology of disease, aging and lifestyle choices (Hayek, Elias, Narouze, & Mekhail, 2011). Long term physical as well as mental health can be affected if the pain is not managed or treated properly (May, 2008).
A common barrier in the front line of pain management in hospitals is a lack of staff education and training regarding correct and new pain management interventions and strategies (Wright, & Adeosun, 2009). Ineffective communication between medical professionals and their patients is another critical factor. Developing a good rapport with a patient is highly important when building a trusting relationship, which is vital in health care settings (Fleischer, Berg, Zimmermann, Wuste & Behrens,...