A Nursing Specialty: The Analgesic Study Nurse

Abstract

The management of severe pain is a challenge to the entire medical team, and in the hospital setting the nurse's role is vital because he or she often serves as the corrununicative link between the patient and the physician.While giving the sympathetic and tender care that is part of our training, the nurse monitors and observes the patient, relays important information to the physician that will make the patient's care more effective, and is responsible for treatment compliance.This traditional role of the nurse in the management of pain is one that we all understand and relate to, but a new nursing role has developed in which nurses are contributing in a broader sense to a better understanding of pain and to the availability and delivery of more effective analgesics. This new speciality, that of the analgesic study nurse or nurse observer, demands skills and orientation that, in many ways, differ from those of the traditional nurse's role.she bring to the job? the study nurse is the person solely responsible for the conduct of the study.