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The patient's history and diagnosis are helpful in deciding whether or not the patient is developing a substance abuse problem. A patient having social or relationship problems may need to meet with a crisis counselor. During every shift that a nurse is on duty, they must do an assessment of the patient.
Central stimuli should always be used when attempting to assess if the patient is localising to pain (i.e. moving their arms to the site where the pain is being applied), [3] however it has been suggested that central stimuli are less suitable for the assessment of eye opening, compared to peripheral stimuli, as they can cause grimacing. [4]
A patient's self-reported pain is so critical in the pain assessment method that it has been described as the "most valid measure" of pain. [2] [3] The focus on patient report of pain is an essential aspect of any pain scale, but there are additional features that should be included in a pain scale. In addition to focusing on the patient's ...
This may also be assessed for pain now, compared to pain at time of onset, or pain on movement. There are alternative assessment methods for pain, which can be used where a patient is unable to vocalise a score. One such method is the Wong-Baker faces pain scale. Time (history)
To assess intensity, the patient may be asked to locate their pain on a scale of 0 to 10, with 0 being no pain at all, and 10 the worst pain they have ever felt. Quality can be established by having the patient complete the McGill Pain Questionnaire indicating which words best describe their pain. [6]
SOCRATES is used to gain an insight into the patient's condition, and to allow the health care provider to develop a plan for dealing with it. [1] [2] It can be useful for differentiating between nociceptive pain and neuropathic pain. [3]
The AVPU scale (an acronym from "alert, verbal, pain, unresponsive") is a system by which a health care professional can measure and record a patient's level of consciousness. [1] It is mostly used in emergency medicine protocols, and within first aid .
The patient's hips and knees should be flexed (in a bent position) so that their abdominal muscles remain relaxed during the examination. [4] Asking the patient to indicate areas that may be tender or painful is recommended to avoid exacerbating the pain during inspection and to increase the patient's comfort. [3]