Pain management is an important practice for a nursing professional. Patients experience pain both as a result of treatment and their condition, bringing them mental and physical discomfort. One of the primary responsibilities of a nurse is to promote their patient’s wellbeing, prosperity and recovery. As a result, it is crucial to provide pain management services. However, the way people experience pain is different for every individual. Even the same conditions or experiences can be felt differently by two separate persons. There are many factors that determine one’s response to pain, including their past experiences, mental state, age and gender (“Gender differences in pain experience and pain management,” 2019). The differences between patients must be recognized and accounted for in order to bring a sufficient level of care for everyone.
In order to guide my own pain management practices, I will seek to learn as much about my patients as I am able. Listening to the needs of patients, their feedback and opinions is also important, as it can give me more context into managing their condition. Before that, though, it is necessary to give the patients necessary tools to talk about their pain. Introducing the required vocabulary and terminology into the conversation, encouraging introspection and honesty will be the central principles that help me manage patient distress. Constant communication with patients is a requirement to monitor their condition, the effectiveness of pain management solutions. In addition, I seek to incorporate complementary medicine and alternative medicine approaches in my practice. Research shows that these methods show considerable promise in mitigating pain, and nurses rarely use them to this effect (Brewer et al., 2019). I want to be able to incorporate good patient interaction with a variety of well-researched practices in my effort to combat pain.
References
Brewer, N. J., Turrise, S. L., Kim-Godwin, Y. S., & Pond, R. S. (2019). Nurses’ knowledge and treatment beliefs: Use of complementary and alternative medicine for pain management. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 37(3), 248-259.
Gender differences in pain experience and pain management. (2019). Pinnacle Treatment Centers. Web.