Journal of pain and symptom management
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2014
Identifying the barriers and enablers to palliative care nurses' recognition and assessment of delirium symptoms: a qualitative study.
Delirium is underrecognized by nurses, including those working in palliative care settings where the syndrome occurs frequently. Identifying contextual factors that support and/or hinder palliative care nurses' delirium recognition and assessment capabilities is crucial, to inform development of clinical practice and systems aimed at improving patients' delirium outcomes. ⋯ Supporting the development of palliative care nursing delirium recognition and assessment practice requires attending to a range of barriers and enablers at the patient and family, health professional, and system levels.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2014
Pain assessment using the critical-care pain observation tool in chinese critically ill ventilated adults.
The psychometric properties of the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool (CPOT) need to be tested in general intensive care unit patient populations in China. ⋯ The CPOT has good psychometric properties and can be used as a reliable and valid instrument for pain assessment in Chinese critically ill ventilated adults.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2014
Documented electronic medical record-based pain intensity scores at a tertiary pediatric medical center: a cohort analysis.
Previous surveys have suggested that pain in hospitalized patients remains undertreated. However, little is known about those with persistently high pain scores. ⋯ Detailed review of clinical characteristics of patients with persistently high scores led to the strong impression that, in most cases, persistently high pain was not simply because of inadequate administration of opioids. Instead, the first step in improving pain management of hospitalized children may be the identification of outliers with high pain scores to direct efforts on the development of interventions for patient groups with mechanistically similar pain.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2014
Chronic pain in breast cancer survivors: comparison of psychosocial, surgical, and medical characteristics between survivors with and without pain.
According to the literature, 25%-60% of women treated for breast cancer, regardless of the stage, experience pain. Many risk factors have been suggested, with many possible confounding factors. ⋯ Young age, previous comorbidities (such as back pain, arthritis, arthrosis, and fibromyalgia), and combined treatment with axillary lymph node dissection, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy were risk factors for chronic pain. Whether depression or anxiety is a risk factor for chronic pain remains unclear.
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J Pain Symptom Manage · Nov 2014
Discerning the meaning of human suffering through the discourse of Judeo-Christian scriptures and other faith teachings.
When confronted with the meaning of human suffering, many experts from a variety of professional disciplines admit to being incapable of formulating, on the basis of scientific method, a coherent explanation or rationale. Within that perspective, this article proposes another approach to the dilemma-that of reflection rooted in faith. The author examines the discourse of the Judeo-Christian scriptures and the comprehensive and cohesive doctrine developed by Pope John Paul II to find and track an evolving theology on the meaning of human suffering-one that includes understanding of this phenomenon as a "punishment for sin or evil," a test for fidelity, an occasion for God to show mercy and love, and a redemptive act by which Jesus took on all human suffering through his own death on the Cross and gave a salvific meaning to suffering through his resurrection from the dead. Further scriptural reflection and later Christian doctrines acknowledged that the suffering of other believers has its own redemptive value and that human suffering presents an occasion for all believers to respond with compassion and care to the pain of others.