Painless

Pain Management Simulation: Equipment and Terms

Assessment: Gives information about pain and response to medication.

Comfort Measures: Pain may be reduced by interventions such as positioning, application or relief of pressure, heat or cold application, massage, attention, or distraction.

Consultations: Guidance and information on what to do in the simulation provided by the supervising nurse, a pharmacist, or a physician.

History and Physical: Review the admission history and physical at any time to obtain more information about past and current health problems or to evaluate the ability of body organs to metabolize and eliminate drugs.

Interventions: Gives options of things you could do for the patient, such as administering medication and/or adjusting the dose of medication consistent with physician's orders and patient needs. Consider non-pharmacological adjunctive comfort measures and conduct patient teaching as appropriate. Call the physician if you think the orders should be changed.

Nurse's Notes: A permanent record for communication and legal purposes. Add pertinent assessments and interventions to your notes.

PCA Pump: Patient-controlled analgesia allows the patient to self-administer pain medication (intravenous narcotic) as needed. A pump at the bedside contains the medication. The patient can push a button to receive an injection. The pump is programmed consistent with physician's orders with a "dose" that the patient will receive each time the button is pushed, a "lockout" time which prevents delivery of a dose attempted too early, a "basal" rate which will run continuously, and a maximum dose possible which includes the basal and as many doses as the patient would be allowed.

Physician's Orders: Check the physician's orders for the medication(s) which can be used to manage pain, or for any other prescribed drugs which might have interactions with the pain medications. Only advanced practice nurses are allowed to furnish drugs without a physician's order.

Vital Signs: Blood pressure, pulse, respiration, temperature, and (in this simulation) oxygen saturation. These parameters are obtained routinely to assess health status and response to interventions.