Older adults can be especially susceptible to the debilitating effects of chronic pain, yet there are often barriers to successfully alleviating pain on the part of elderly patients and the health ...care professionals who treat them. This comprehensive guide to geriatric pain management provides the most current information available on assessment and treatment of pain in older adults. In a concise, reader-friendly format, the book provides techniques, tips, and tools for assessing pain and examines barriers to appropriate treatment. It addresses the physiological and psychosocial factors underlying the process and occurrence of pain and helps nurses to develop a comprehensive multimodal approach to pain management that includes pharmacological and nonpharmacological interventions. The guide provides detailed coverage of medications commonly used for pain management, including all contraindications and side effects, so that nurses will be able to evaluate the best use of a medication in the context of comorbidities and sensitivities of each individual. Also addressed are chronic illnesses common to the elderly population, palliative and hospice care, treatment of concurrent depression and anxiety, treatment of cognitively impaired elderly, and techniques for assessment and intervention in cases of substance abuse.
Abstract For the perioperative nurse, the management of postsurgical pain includes various responsibilities, such as performing postsurgical pain assessments as an essential first step, facilitating ...recovery from surgery, and maximizing patient satisfaction during the postsurgical period. In addition, nurses are responsible for providing patient education regarding pain management, the quality of which may strongly influence patient satisfaction. External and internal challenges exist in perioperative care processes, however, and addressing these challenges will promote the overall goal of providing high-quality care.
Abstract Achievement of adequate postoperative pain management is a critical challenge in health care, with an estimated three out of four adult surgical patients reporting moderate to extreme pain ...after surgery. Overreliance on opioids in acute care settings has persisted, despite well-known adverse side effects frequently associated with this class of drugs. Furthermore, patients with a history of chronic opioid use present additional challenges in terms of postsurgical pain management. Advances in the development of newer analgesic agents and anesthetic techniques may be useful in surgical patients with a history of chronic opioid use and in the overall surgical patient population. Systemic inefficiencies and problematic medical practice patterns can also have negative effects on perioperative pain management. As the surgical patient’s primary advocate, perioperative nurses play an important role in overcoming these diverse challenges and addressing the problems associated with inadequately controlled postsurgical pain.
