The Importance of Pain Assessment Tools in Healthcare or Nursing

Pain assessment tools are essential for nurses to understand the discomfort their patients are experiencing. Based on the pain levels of the recovering patients, several medical decisions are made.

From determining the required pain medications to helping doctors understand the efficacy of pain management efforts. These medical decisions are made based on several pain assessment scales that nurses are required to use on a regular basis.

What are these scales, and why are they important? Let’s find out.

7 Pain Assessment Tools Used By Nurses

1.    Numerical Rating Scale

This is one of the most commonly used pain assessment tools as it involves assigning a number to the pain you are experiencing. Patients are requested to rate their pain between 1 and 10 with 10 being the worst pain that they have ever experienced.

Based on the severity of the pain, doctors and nurses offer appropriate pain management.

2.    FLACC Scale

This scale is specifically used to assess pain in children and infants. The FLACC stands for Face, Legs, Activity, Consalability, and Cry.

Based on the parameters of FLACC, the pain of children in this category is judged by medical professionals.

3.    Brief Pain Inventory (BPI)

The BPI scale is used generally to understand the pain experienced by adults. This is mainly because the functional effects of the pain need to be explained as per this scale to help doctors understand how the pain is interfering with your daily life.

The scale is presented in a questionnaire format and patients are required to answer the questions accordingly helping doctors understand the severity of the pain as well as how it affects your life.

4.    Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale

This is another pain assessment tool that’s used to understand the pain experienced by children or for people with limited verbal capacity. As the name suggests there are five faces that correspond to five different levels of pain as per this scale and the images are shown to the patient.

Based on the pain they’re experiencing, the patients are able to recreate or point to the face that corresponds to their feelings.

5.    McGill Pain Questionnaire

This is a simple pain assessment tool that involves ranking your pain with descriptive words based on the intensity of the pain. The questionnaire also looks into how the pain affects your senses and daily life to understand the functional impact of the pain.

6.    Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia (PAINAD) Scale

The PAINAD scale is specifically used to help patients who are older and have dementia. The scale utilises common observable behavioural patterns such as body language, facial expressions, and vocalisations to understand the intensity of pain in patients.

7.    Visual Analog Scale

The visual analog scale is also widely used to understand the severity of pain in patients. They are asked to draw a point across a line to indicate how severe the pain is.

One end of the line indicates no pain and the other one indicates severe pain, based on the input from the patient, the doctors offer medical care accordingly.

Importance of Pain Assessment Tools in Healthcare & Nursing

There are several benefits of utilising pain assessment tools in healthcare, let’s review some of its most common benefits.

• Patient Advocacy: Patient advocacy refers to validating the pain the patient is going through and helping them feel better while empathising with their condition. This helps improve healthcare outcomes and creates a good relationship between patients and caregivers.

• Treatment Progress: Pain assessment is a crucial part of monitoring the recovery of patients. This includes recovery from ailments or surgery. Regular progress monitoring helps patients get timely intervention for uncontrolled pain.

• Better Communication: Pain is subjective, and it is not possible for caregivers to go through the pain their patients are experiencing. As such, pain assessment tools help the two parties communicate better, understand the pain patients are experiencing and treat it accordingly.

• Personalised Treatment: With pain assessment tools it is possible for doctors to offer dedicated pain management to patients based on their exact pain severity and symptoms. This creates better medical outcomes and reduces the risk of opioid dependency.

Conclusion

Now that you know about pain assessment tools and their importance, be sure to remember the definitions for your nursing examinations.

If you want further help understanding complex concepts of nursing study or just want help with your assignments, check out Digi Assignment Help.

They are one of the top assignment help services in Australia, working with the top nursing experts to help you complete your assignments without errors and on time. Check out their website to avail of their services today.

Top Nursing Blogs