Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
The most recent articles from:
Pain Manag Nurs
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Multicenter Study
Nurses' personal opinions about patients' pain and their effect on recorded assessments and titration of opioid doses.
In many clinical settings, nurses have a vital role in pain assessment and titration of opioid doses. Surveys of nurses have revealed knowledge deficits in these areas that are thought to contribute to under-treatment of pain. ⋯ Nurses are less likely to increase a previously safe but ineffective dose of opioid for a smiling patient than a grimacing patient. Survey results reveal a tendency for nurses' personal opinions about the patients' pain, rather than their recorded assessments, to influence choice of opioid dose and to contribute to undertreatment of pain.