{"id":1044,"date":"2022-09-19T09:07:14","date_gmt":"2022-09-19T13:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/chapter\/pain-assessment-tools\/"},"modified":"2024-06-05T17:41:16","modified_gmt":"2024-06-05T21:41:16","slug":"pain-assessment-tools","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/chapter\/pain-assessment-tools\/","title":{"raw":"Pain Assessment Tools","rendered":"Pain Assessment Tools"},"content":{"raw":"<span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Pain assessment tools<\/strong> are used to explore the relevant dimensions of pain in an organized way. Many have been developed: you should choose one that has been validated (RNAO, 2013). The following sections explore a few different types of pain assessment tools and discuss which may be most appropriate in various contexts.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #000000\">Choice of the <strong>correct tool<\/strong> is informed by several factors:<\/span>\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">The reason for assessing. For example, are you assessing the pain to obtain an overview or comprehensive perspective of the pain? Are you assessing the pain to determine the effectiveness of a treatment?<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">The client\u2019s developmental stage. There are validated tools based on a client\u2019s capacity to cognitively appraise their pain and communicate it.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">The client\u2019s health status. At times, you will need a quick assessment of pain because the client\u2019s health status is critical, or the client is deteriorating. Other times, you will need a more comprehensive understanding of the pain.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">The institution and unit. Many units specify the pain assessment tools to be used so that consistency of assessment is maintained; they may also offer training for all healthcare providers in that specific tool.<\/span><\/li>\r\n \t<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Culture. Some people from different cultural backgrounds in terms of ethnicity and language may not be able to cognitively appraise their pain using some of the common pain tools. Thus, it is important to recognize the limits of pain tools.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\r\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Contextualizing Inclusivity<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"color: #000000\">Everyone experiences pain, but not everyone has the cognitive or language capacity to understand it and optimally communicate it (e.g., newborns, infants, toddlers). Children as young as four can self-report their pain using tools that are appropriate to their developmental stage (Freund &amp; Bolick, 2019). Other pain assessment approaches involve observing behavioural cues (e.g., crying) and physiological measures (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure). When appropriate, a combination of self-report and observation is best (Parker &amp; Brown, 2019). With all children, but particularly those who are cognitively or developmentally delayed, you should partner with their caregiver (e.g., parent) as they are familiar with the child\u2019s baseline behavioural cues (Freund &amp; Bolick, 2019).<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>References<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<span style=\"color: #000000\">Freund, D., &amp; Bolick, B. (2019). Assessing a child\u2019s pain. The American Journal of Nursing, 119(5), 34-41.<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/01.NAJ.0000557888.65961.c6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/01.NAJ.0000557888.65961.c6<\/a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #000000\">Parker, M., &amp; Brown, N. (2019). Pre-hospital pain assessment in paediatric patients. Emergency Nurse, 27(2), 16-20. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7748\/en.2019.e1905\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7748\/en.2019.e1905<\/a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"color: #000000\">RNAO (2013). Assessment and management of pain. 3rd edition.<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/rnao.ca\/bpg\/guidelines\/assessment-and-management-pain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/rnao.ca\/bpg\/guidelines\/assessment-and-management-pain<\/a>","rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Pain assessment tools<\/strong> are used to explore the relevant dimensions of pain in an organized way. Many have been developed: you should choose one that has been validated (RNAO, 2013). The following sections explore a few different types of pain assessment tools and discuss which may be most appropriate in various contexts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Choice of the <strong>correct tool<\/strong> is informed by several factors:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">The reason for assessing. For example, are you assessing the pain to obtain an overview or comprehensive perspective of the pain? Are you assessing the pain to determine the effectiveness of a treatment?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">The client\u2019s developmental stage. There are validated tools based on a client\u2019s capacity to cognitively appraise their pain and communicate it.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">The client\u2019s health status. At times, you will need a quick assessment of pain because the client\u2019s health status is critical, or the client is deteriorating. Other times, you will need a more comprehensive understanding of the pain.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">The institution and unit. Many units specify the pain assessment tools to be used so that consistency of assessment is maintained; they may also offer training for all healthcare providers in that specific tool.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"color: #000000\">Culture. Some people from different cultural backgrounds in terms of ethnicity and language may not be able to cognitively appraise their pain using some of the common pain tools. Thus, it is important to recognize the limits of pain tools.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\">\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>Contextualizing Inclusivity<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Everyone experiences pain, but not everyone has the cognitive or language capacity to understand it and optimally communicate it (e.g., newborns, infants, toddlers). Children as young as four can self-report their pain using tools that are appropriate to their developmental stage (Freund &amp; Bolick, 2019). Other pain assessment approaches involve observing behavioural cues (e.g., crying) and physiological measures (e.g., heart rate, blood pressure). When appropriate, a combination of self-report and observation is best (Parker &amp; Brown, 2019). With all children, but particularly those who are cognitively or developmentally delayed, you should partner with their caregiver (e.g., parent) as they are familiar with the child\u2019s baseline behavioural cues (Freund &amp; Bolick, 2019).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><span style=\"color: #000000\"><strong>References<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Freund, D., &amp; Bolick, B. (2019). Assessing a child\u2019s pain. The American Journal of Nursing, 119(5), 34-41.<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/01.NAJ.0000557888.65961.c6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/01.NAJ.0000557888.65961.c6<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">Parker, M., &amp; Brown, N. (2019). Pre-hospital pain assessment in paediatric patients. Emergency Nurse, 27(2), 16-20. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7748\/en.2019.e1905\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7748\/en.2019.e1905<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000\">RNAO (2013). Assessment and management of pain. 3rd edition.<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/rnao.ca\/bpg\/guidelines\/assessment-and-management-pain\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/rnao.ca\/bpg\/guidelines\/assessment-and-management-pain<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"menu_order":10,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":"cc-by-nc"},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[85],"license":[56],"class_list":["post-1044","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","contributor-january-2023","license-cc-by-nc"],"part":1022,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1044\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2614,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1044\/revisions\/2614"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/1022"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/1044\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=1044"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=1044"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/assessmentnursingmain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=1044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}