Principles of Pain Management

LIFE Project Pain Management Principles

• All patients have the right to have their pain relieved as much as possible.
  
  
  • The patient's age; gender; race or ethnic background; religious beliefs; lifestyle choices; stage of illness; underlying diagnoses; and/or history of substance abuse do not change this right.
    
    
  • Some groups, including children, the elderly, the mentally or physically disabled, and those with a history of addictions need to have special care to be sure their pain is well-treated.
    
    
• Because pain is such a personal experience, the patient's report of pain is the "gold standard", and all treatment is based on that report.
  
  
• The goal of treatment is to relieve as much of the patient's pain as is possible.
  
  
  • Sometimes, it may not be possible to relieve all the patient's pain. If this is the case, the goal should be to reduce the pain to the level that the patient says is his/her goal.
    
    
  • For the best pain relief, doctors, nurses, and other professionals must watch out for side effects and their treatment; the goal is to achieve the best pain relief with the least side effects.
    
    
• A complete review of the patient's pain should be done at the start of treatment, and pain should be reviewed each time the patient is seen by a health care professional after that.
  
  
  • Pain should be considered the fifth vital sign, along with pulse, breathing rate, blood pressure, and temperature.
    
    
  • The review of the patient's pain should include a review of how much pain the patient has; what the pain feels like; side effects of the pain and medicines for it; mood; and how the pain affects the patient in all areas of his/her life.

Pain Management Hotline: (913) 588-3692

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