The Coping With Labor Algorithm: An Alternate Pain Assessment Tool for the Laboring Woman

Abstract

The documentation of pain in the labor and delivery setting is one of the essential tasks of all health care providers who care for women in labor. The Joint Commission standards mandate regular pain assessments, but compliance with this mandate in the highly unique patient population of laboring woman is problematic when using the standard 0 to 10 Numeric Rating Scale. Labor pain is always unique given the various contributing physiologic, emotional, social, and cultural components. This article describes the work of a process improvement group to create an alternative pain assessment tool named the Coping With Labor Algorithm. The group, consisting of nurses and nurse‐midwives, used the FOCUS format and Deming's “Plan, Do, Check, and Act” cycle to create a formalized assessment tool for use with laboring women. The Coping With Labor Algorithm is currently in use in the labor unit of a large tertiary care facility, which successfully passed a Joint Commission inspection while using the coping algorithm. The value of the coping algorithm is two‐fold: it provides a mechanism for pain documentation, and it provides nursing care suggestions for the laboring woman. This article reports nurses' perceptions of the tool.

Effect of ice pack application on pain intensity during active phase of the first stage of labor among primiparaous

“…It is also fortified by the theory that decreased nerve conduction velocity, attenuation or block of pain conduction to central nervous system via gate control theory, mind deviation from pain, and decreased muscle stretch which all result in increase in pain perception threshold. [30] This result is in accordance with finding of Dehcheshmeh et al (2009). [31] They found that parturient who had been given ice application experienced highly significant and considerable relief of pain than the control group (P < .001).…”

Management of Latent to Active Period on Delivery Advancement

“…Fase laten adalah fase awal, dimulai pada saat adanya kontraksi yang teratur , servik berdilatasi dari 0 sampai 3 cm (Pillitteri, 2009). Fase ini berlangsung sekitar 8 -10 jam pada primipara dan 6 sampai 8 jam pada nulipara (Pillitteri, 2009).…”

Giving Birth With Epidural Analgesia: The Experience of First-Time Mothers

“…The recently developed pain assessment tool for laboring women, the Coping with Labor Algorithim, is useful to discern whether women need intervention for pain and offers nonpharmacological care methods that nurses can suggest to laboring women (Gulliver, Fisher, & Roberts, 2008;Roberts, Gulliver, Fisher, & Cloyes, 2010). Penny Simkin also developed pain and coping rating scales that may be useful (Simkin & Hull, 2011).…”