Nursing interventions in pain

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Nursing interventions are any care based on nurses' judgment and clinical knowledge, based on a scientifically supported action, carried out and planned for patients' benefit. These are very important to control pain since pain, when inadequately treated, affects the quality of life of patients and caregivers in physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions. So, this study aimed at identifying nursing interventions to handle pain and whether they relate to those proposed by the Nursing Interventions Classification. CONTENTS: This is an integrative literature review, carried out in LILACS, Scielo and Medline databases. Nine articles published between 2001 and 2011 were selected. These articles describe nursing interventions to handle pain in different contexts. CONCLUSION: Most nursing interventions mentioned by the articles are related to those described by the Nursing Interventions Classification. The scarcity of clinical studies related to nursing interventions to handle pain was also observed.

Gestão do cuidado de um paciente com Doença de Devic na Atenção Primária à Saúde

“…Nursing itself, in addition to the resources exposed in this study, could have made use of complementary therapies for pain relief interventions, both in the outpatient clinic and in the hospital. Among the complementary therapies that could be used, the following stand out: application of cold or heat, control of the environment (comfort), distraction, teaching (procedure and treatment), stimulation of the imagination, stimulus to coping, massage, music therapy, relaxation, touch therapy and aromatherapy (15) .…”

“…Moreover, other strategies could minimize the effects of pain, since it can affect quality of life, physical, psychological, social and spiritual dimensions of patients and their caregivers if not treated properly. Thus, non-pharmacological methods for pain relief are increasingly being used (15) .…”

Pain assessment and management in patients undergoing endovascular procedures in the catheterization laboratory

“…However, a substantial portion of these patients did not receive any intervention for pain relief. The literature suggests that insufficient knowledge about mechanism of action, half-life, drug-drug interactions, and dosage often leads to undertreatment of pain (16)(17) . Although physicians are responsible for prescribing analgesic agents, pain management per se is performed by the nursing staff.…”

Cultural Perspectives on Pain Assessment and Opioid Use: International Neuroscience Nursing Research Symposium Conference Proceedings

“…However, the use of nonpharmacological measures as supporting strategies in the treatment of pain and reduction of opioids is still challenging because of the strong biomedical model adopted in clinical practice and the knowledge gap under construction in recent years. Brazilian studies have shown opportunities and space for nurses to work with pain management in patients at all levels of healthcare and their involvement and skills to manage pain, for example, using integrative practices to manage pain 41,42…”