Improving cancer pain management through patient and family education

The purpose of this study was to determine if continued access to information following a baseline pain education program would increase knowledge and positive beliefs about cancer pain management, thus resulting in improved pain control during a 6-month follow-up period. Patients with cancer-related pain and their primary caregivers received a brief pain education program, and were then randomized into one of three information groups: a) usual care, b) pain hot line, and c) weekly provider-initiated follow-up calls for 1 month post-education. Sixty-four patients and their primary caregivers were recruited. Both patients and caregivers showed an improvement in knowledge and beliefs after the baseline pain education program. Continued access to pain information with either the pain hot line or provider-initiated weekly follow-up calls did not affect long-term outcomes of pain intensity, interference because of pain, adequacy of analgesics used, or pain relief. In addition, long-term outcomes did not differ between patients who had improvement and those who showed decline in knowledge and beliefs pre-post education. These findings suggest that a brief pain education program can improve knowledge and beliefs of both patient and primary caregiver. Continued access to pain related information using either a patient- or provider-initiated format did not affect long-term pain outcomes.     

Audit of cancer pain management in a cancer centre

Despite the availability of effective methods of controlling pain, many patients continue to receive inadequate pain relief. An audit was carried out on a single day to identify the prevalence, severity and management of cancer pain in adults in the two teaching hospitals in the Nottingham Cancer Centre. Of 186 patients with cancer, 52 had experienced pain as a result of their cancer during their admission. Of these 52 patients, 47 were assessed. More than half had unrelieved pain that was 'severe' at it s worst and interfered greatly with activities. Compared with patients whose pain had been relieved, patients with uncontrolled pain were likely to have spent less time in hospital, to have not had a formal assessment or reassessment of their pain and not to have a pain-care plan in the nursing notes or to have been seen by the hospital specialist palliative care team. We use our results to highlight areas of good practice, to identify where improvements could be made, and to inform the development of local standards and future audits.     

Developing a computerized data collection and decision support system for cancer pain management

Contemporary nursing practice needs reengineering to deliver its service effectively and efficiently. Using computer technology to support clinicians' decision making may be a parsimonious way to provide high-quality, patient-centered, efficient care. The process of developing the PAINReportIt and PAINConsultN system is described, and the results of two pilot studies in which the system was tested are summarized. The feasibility of using the system to assess pain and provide decision support for clinicians is demonstrated. The findings show PAINReportIt to be promising as an effective, efficient way for patients to report their pain. Whether PAINConsultN is an effective answer to cancer pain management barriers warrants further evaluation with larger samples. The advantages of using the system, as compared with use of the traditional pain management process, are discussed.     

Improving pain management for patients in a hospital burns unit

The pain caused by burns can be unpredictable and its management is complex. In order to minimise the discomfort experienced by burns patients, it is important that health care professionals understand the principles of analgesia and the importance of delivering the right drugs at the right time. An audit in a burns unit revealed that nursing and medical staff lacked confidence in prescribing and administering analgesia, and as a result patients were experiencing uncontrolled pain. A new system of pain assessment and management was developed with an accompanying education programme, which resulted in improved pain management.     

Improving physician documentation through a clinical documentation management program

Improving physician documentation ensures that the patient's clinical course is clearly recorded. North Carolina Baptist Hospital implemented interventions addressing physician documentation to ensure the assignment of the most appropriate diagnosis-related group (DRG) when it launched the Clinical Documentation Management Program (CDMP). Collaboration between registered nurses trained as clinical documentation consultants (CDC) and certified coding specialists as well as ongoing physician education has resulted in more accurate and complete documentation in the medical record.     

Developing a pain management program through continuous improvement strategies

Pain affects more than one third of cancer patients in the early stages of their disease, dramatically rising above 70% in the advanced stages. Numerous studies have been conducted in the pursuit of cancer pain relief, yet the prevalence of pain persists. This article focuses on a pain management program, developed by a performance improvement team, which addressed the inadequacies of current pain management. Performance improvement activities are described through the process of assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation of the pain management program. This pain management program is uniquely derived from a unit core value that all staff is responsible and accountable for pain management.     

Improving practice through a system of clinical supervision

Although a familiar concept, clinical supervision has yet to be available to all nurses. This is often due to difficulties in implementation. Having recognised these problems, one acute paediatric ward introduced the role of clinical supervision facilitator. This enabled the introduction of a system of clinical supervision and ensured a sustained change in practice.     

Improving pain management for hip fractured elderly

This article discusses a quality assurance project that examined the effect of two modalities of pro re nata (PRN) analgesic medication administration on pain and mobility of elderly postoperative hip surgery patients. Several approaches to improving pain management in these patients are recommended.     

Building an institutional commitment to pain management in long-term care facilities

This report reviews the development, implementation and findings of an inter-institutional study directed to the goal of making pain management an institutional priority in Wisconsin long-term care facilities. A total of 87 facilities were recruited in two training cohorts. Each facility identified a team of individuals, with responsibility and authority for care policies within their institution, to participate in four structured educational programs. Each team completed an Action Plan, structured around 14 national practice indicators of an institutional commitment to pain management. At baseline, 14% of facilities had > 51% of the indicators in place; at conclusion 74% of facilities had > 51% of indicators in place. This education project was successful across training cohorts at implementing critical pain management target indicators.     

建立多学科随访管理体系 加强出院患者癌痛管理

癌痛严重影响患者的生活质量,癌痛患者出院后更需要得到规范化镇痛治疗和护理,才能达到无痛生存,提高生活质量的目的。因此,我院通过摸索建立了以肿瘤科为主导,配合宁养院访视、多学科团队支持的多学科随访管理体系,通过电话随访、短信咨询、居家访视和网络互动等方式,帮助出院的癌痛患者进行疼痛管理,并给予心理支持和帮助,不仅缓解了患者的焦虑情绪,提高了生活质量,同时也提高了随访率。     

Improving postoperative pain management: Continuous wound infusion and postoperative pain

Despite various analgesic drugs and techniques, relieving acute postoperative pain remains a challenge. An actual state of the question indicates that there is imperative need for further improvements. After a surgical incision, nociceptive inputs originating from the wound play a major role in both the initiation and the maintenance of postoperative pain. Continuous infiltration of analgesics into the surgical wound is a rational approach, a simple and safe technique which has gained in popularity. Local intrawound analgesics are mainly local anesthetics which block the nociceptive transmission. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs which modulate the local inflammatory reaction sensitizing the peripheral nociceptors represent an interesting alternative. Moreover, both local anesthetics and anti-inflammatory drugs possess a variety of modes of action, beside those which are conventionally recognized, mechanisms which may participate to their local analgesic effect. However, clinical reports published to date have brought conflicting results regarding the efficacy of intrawound analgesic techniques. These studies have pointed out several important issues like the place of the catheter, choice and dose of the analgesic drug, potential local toxicity. These issues need to be solved to better determine the right place of the technique in postoperative multimodal analgesia.     

Issues in cancer pain management

In this article, three aspects of recent issues in cancer pain management such as pain assessment, drowsiness with morphine, and problem in home care setting. First, the assessment of 'impact of pain' is to assess whether the treatment is sufficient for the patient. On the other hand, assessment of 'pain intensity' is the effectiveness of the treatment. Therefore, to reduce the gap in pain evaluations between cancer patients and medical stuffs by assessing the 'impact of pain' in addition to 'intensity of pain'. Second, increasing dosage of morphine often reduces pain, at the same time patients become drowsy. This is often observed soon after starting morphine administration, especially, patients who have renal dysfunction. An active morphine metabolite morphine-6-Glucuronide is excreted into urine, so that, renal dysfunction causes drowsiness. Third, at home care setting, patients tend to be into poor pain control condition. It is necessary that paying attention on patient's knowledge of medications and having support program for pain management for home care setting.     

Psychologic management of cancer pain

Psychologic strategies for the treatment of cancer pain continue to be an important component of multiclimensional treatment programs. These techniques, including relaxation therapy. cognitive-behavioral therapy, biofeedback, and hypnosis have demonstrated efficacy and reduced medical costs. The impact of these techniques is on the sensory aspects of pain and the psychologic distress and maladaptive coping mechanisms people develop in response to pain. Although psychologic techniques have been used for many years, the recent literature is elucidating the pathophysiologic mechanisms of these techniques and better defining the best techniques to use in individual cases to maximize effectiveness.     

Barriers in cancer pain management

Inadequate pain management of cancer patients remains a striking problem despite impressive scientific progress in the knowledge of the pathophysiology, pathogenesis and therapy of pain. Our paper focuses on three topics: 1. physician-related barriers, 2. patient-related barriers, and 3. society- and tradition-related barriers as well as government regulations. It is imperative to overcome these barriers, especially since legal regulations for pain management were embodied into statutory regulations in Austria two years ago.     

Advances in cancer pain management

Control of malignant pain and related symptoms is paramount to clinical success in caring for cancer patients. To achieve the best quality of life for patients and families, oncologists and palliative care clinicians must work together to understand problems related to psychologic, social, and spiritual pain. Pain is the primary problem targeted for control using the World Health Organization's (WHO) analgesic ladder. This article focuses on increased knowledge of analgesic action that may enable expansion of the WHO analgesic ladder to fulfill the broader objectives of palliative medicine. We discuss clinical experience with several classes of drugs that are currently used to treat cancer pain: 1) nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, with emphasis on cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors; 2) opioid analgesics, with specific emphasis on methadone and its newly recognized value in cancer pain; 3) ketamine, an antagonist at N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors; and 4) bisphosphonates, used for pain resulting from bone metastases. New concepts that compare molecular actions of morphine at excitatory opioid receptors, and methadone at nonopioid receptor systems, are presented to underscore the importance of balancing central nervous system excitatory (anti-analgesic) versus inhibitory (analgesic) influences.