Concept Analysis on Pain - Essay Example

? Concept analysis on pain Part The practice of nursing brings practitioners to interact with disturbed people. There are different types and forms of disturbance. However, a sick person who opts to seek medical health is driven into doing so by an intrapersonal feeling. The paper thus seeks to analyze this disturbance and in so doing evaluate its causes and the different forms it takes. The disturbance referred to in the paper is a concept that is integral in the practice of nursing especially so when it is evident that it is the very concept that keeps patients seeking medical services. This concept is called pain. Pain is an abstract idea that is relative in nature. Different people define pain differently since there are diverse aspects of pain. However, the most universally accepted definition is that pain is a strong unpleasant bodily feeling or sensation such as caused by illness or injury. According to this definition, anything that causes the unpleasant feeling is an agent of pain and does so by damaging the body cells of an individual. Further, this definition indicates that pain occurs in two stages: the first stage is the sensitivity by nerve endings that a chemical change has occurred in the tissues and secondly the interpretation that the change is harmful. Another applicable definition of pain is that it is a mental suffering or distress. This is the most experienced pain. It has agents and its causes are as diverse as the complications of human lifestyle can ever get. For instance, the news about a loved one’s demise is painful and so is head injury in a road crash. The two give the ideas defined above; while one infers to a mental distress, the other refers to a bodily harm. Both inflict pain of different nature (Castle & Buckley, 2008). A more generalized definition of pain is “An unpleasant sensation and emotional response to that sensation” (American Academy of Pain Medicine, 2007). This definition gives a broad view of the concept of pain by combining the sensations whether physical or mental that result in pain. It is clear that according to most definitions, the response to pain is emotional. It is imperatively that pain is a reaction mechanism of the body to protect it from further harm. Different disciplines define and use pain differently. Doctors treat their patients who are coincidentally compelled to go to hospitals due to intense pain. To doctors, pain is the uncomfortable feeling caused by bodily harm. The main role that doctors perform, therefore, is the reduction of the pain and the initiation of the healing and recovery process. This they do by the administration of pain killers and the antibiotics. Furthermore, doctors diagnose the disease thereby determining the cause of the pain and treating it. In so doing, they offer a permanent solution to the pain. There are different types of pain related to bodily harm in the practice of medicine. The most common being the occurrence of an infection. This refers to an inversion of the body by a disease causing organism. Until the organism is established and its effects eliminated, the victims experience intense pain. Additionally, pain results from accidents. This refers to the unintentional bodily harm which causes direct destruction of body tissues. It results in opened skins otherwise referred to as wounds. Theses hurt and cause intense pain. Doctors therefore stitch up the injuries and administer painkillers thereby reducing the pain while instigating the healing process. The cardinal rule that doctors follow when handling the issue of pain is that the patient is always right. This is based on the fact that it is the bearer of pain who knows where it hurts. Therefore, if a patient says that he or she feels pain on the lips, the doctor has to believe it is so even if there may be no physical signs to indicate the presence of pain. Notably, pain is always a subjective concept (McCaffrey, 1977). This means that pain is what the person experiencing it says it is. For example, a person can be subjected to the lifting of a weight and claim that it feels painful to do so. Yet, another person subjected to the same activity might claim to experience a normal feeling. Hence, the perception of pain is more of a psycho-socio-cultural response. Psychologists, on the other hand, analyze mental disturbance which is also a great source of human pain. Unlike in the first scenario, the mental distress has no evidence and one suffers internally without showing. As was in the example above, people react differently to different news. After learning the death of a loved one, the pain and mental torture may overwhelm an individual resulting in total loss of lapse of memory. Such people thus become mentally disturbed or outrightly insane. To reverse their conditions, a psychiatrist employs a number of strategies, which include memory reconstruction. Psychiatrists therefore analyze pain and understand the most common pains suffered by their clients. The response of an individual to pain is based on the emotional and behavioral level of an individual. Psychiatrists can determine the overall emotional status of a person by analyzing how they behave in comparison to a normal person. For example, a normal person may feel emotional pain when they a loved one dies. However, it would be out of the ordinary for a person not to feel any pain upon losing a loved one. Psychiatrists use such analysis to evaluate a person’s level of mental and emotional condition with a view of taking corrective measures. As noted earlier, the analysis and use of the concept of pain differs according to the discipline it is applied to. However, it is a fundamental principle that the perception of pain is emotional. Basically, a person may react to pain in a psychosocial, behavioral or neurological manner. Part 2 Nursing is a profession mandated with the caring of patients in a health institution such as a hospital. Nurses therefore play second fiddle to doctors. They spend most of their time with patients caring for them and ensuring that their recovery process is in accordance with the drug administration. The nature of this work implies that nurses interact with pain more than doctors do. Nurses observe their patients, they ensure that they are clean and respond positively to their medication. Nurses are trained on the processes of identifying pain in a patient and how to analyze it to determine its source and its quickest remedy. The feeling of pain is a sign of a worsening case. A nurse is thus employed to prevent this (Fogel & Woods, 2008). Pain management in the practice of nursing is a multifaceted process that begins by the determination of the cause of the discomfort. The drugs prescribed by a doctor may further heighten the pain in a patient. Such result in increased body temperatures and fever. A nurse is permitted to run parallel operation on the patient by administering painkillers to soothe the process, allowing the patient some freedom to rest, and maybe fall asleep. The practice of nursing is a complex one that requires effective management and appropriate facilitation to execute effectively. The attitude of a nurse is integral in the recovery process of the patient. A poorly motivated nurse neglects his or her patients which results in the worsening of the condition of the patient. Nurses are humans and subject to the feeling of pain too; lack of adequate motivations such as poor pay is a source of the mental pain discussed above. In such states, nurses do not perform effectively resulting in the repercussions of underperformance which may include the death of patients. Most hospitals in the country understand this and offer enabling environment for their nurses including an appropriate pay package. The amount of pain that nurses witness in the hospitals in the course of their daily operations is adequate to make one lose sanity and touch on reality. Some patients are admitted with severe conditions. The nurses managing such cases become familiar to such horrific sites and lose their definition of normal. To prevent such nurses from complete loss of sanity, hospitals take their nurses through a rigorous psychiatrist analysis. This helps them reconnect with the society and thereby becoming normal members of the society. Additionally, yearly breaks from their duties offer nurses an opportunity to recollect themselves and bond with the rest of the society (O'Carroll, 2002). In the nursing process, pain is a critical element. In the use of the concept of pain in nursing, the first step is assessing pain. It should be noted that pain is an important health indicator and it is termed as the fifth vital sign. Before pain can be fixed, information must be collected about the pain. In order to fix the pain, nurses have to collect information primarily from the person suffering from the pain. To do this, the nurse can obtains the patient’s pain history, perform physical examinations and make observational behaviors. Assessing pain is a very vital step in the process of treating the patient since it gives pointer to the specific cause of the pain. Thus, a nurse should spend sufficient time in assessing pain as this form the foundation of deciding on how to fix the pain The second stage in handling pain by the nurses is diagnosing the pain. Diagnoses of pain depend on the correct assessment to establish the specific cause of pain. Concise information from the bearer of the pain is important since it helps in proper diagnoses. Primarily, pain can be diagnosed as either acute or chronic pain. Acute pain is temporary and often has a sudden onset. The effects of acute pain are localized and it acts as a warning of actual or potential injury to the tissues. On the other hand, chronic pain is prolonged and usually lasting more than six months. It is difficult to ascertain the particular cause of chronic pain and is usually unresponsive to medical treatment. After diagnoses, the next process in nursing pain is planning. In this stage, the nurses work in partnership with the clients and physicians to decide on the specific measures to manage the pain. The nurses can plan on the medication required to manage the pain and other support such as providing comfort. Appropriate interventions are then implemented to manage the pain. Intervention can be either pharmacological or non pharmacological The final stage of managing pain in the nursing process is evaluation. The nurses have to conduct an analysis of the level of effectiveness of the intervention processes. As is the case in all medical conditions, it is important to assess the impact of intervention measures so as to decide on the alternatives in case the current measures are not working. According to research by Bozmowski (2012), the perception of patients on own medical condition has a significant impact on how the ensuing pain should be managed. Thus, he recommends that the nurses should spend more time assessing the pain and then discuss with the patient concerning the recommended interventions. The first stage of pain management is assessing pain. Bozmowski (2012), notes that it is the role of the nurse to assess the patient carefully to ascertain all the necessary facts. The assessment should be done in a way that makes the patients feel at ease and that the treatment process is geared towards their interests. Also, when the nurse has decided on the interventions, it is vital to involve the patient. The patient should be informed on the type of medication recommended and the reason for its use. The research showed that patients with self satisfaction were likely to heal faster than those who lacked self satisfaction. Margaret et al (2008) explored the right to pain treatment and the role of nurses. In conventional law, a patient has the inalienable right to treatment. Pain treatment is an exception and it should be accorded priority just like any other malady. Does the nurse have a role to play in the pain treatment of a patient? In the research by Margaret et al (2008), the authors pose a case study of a patient if chronic pain. The patient asks for stronger painkillers and the nurse ascertains that indeed, the patient is in great pain. However, upon consulting the physician, the request for stringer painkillers is rejected. The physician flatly refuses and orders for the current medication to be continued. It is recommended that nurses should play an integral role in selecting the appropriate pain interventions for a patient. They should not be reduced to the mere role of role of carrying out instructions from the physicians. In any case, nurses are by default the closets individuals to patients and thus in a much better position to know what would work in specific cases. The role of nurse practitioner in managing patients with pain is very important in the health sector (Kroes, 2004). Nurses have historically been known to provide care and comfort to patients in hospitals. However, there have misconceptions on the actual roles of nurses in pain treatment and if at all they would do more. The research by Kroes (2004) explored the nurses’ roles in providing primary care for patients with pain. Analysis of the data showed that the interviewed nurses had two facets that influenced how they managed patients with pain. The first factor was pain consciousness. Nurses who felt some kind of connection to the patients’ pain were bound to treat the patient better. The practice climate also influenced the way in which the nurses handled pain treatment. According to the research, the environment in which the nurses operated played a role in influencing their management of pain patients. An operational definition for pain refers to it as the ensuing discomfort that comes about due to any emotional or physical strain on a bodily tissue or even cell. In practice, a patient complaining of pain has to be first accepted as speaking the truth. The next step is to ascertain whether it is a sensory or emotional experience that is triggering the pain. Once the source of pain is established, intervention measures should be taken to ensure that the given person, patient, is protected from any potential danger that might be of harm. Part 3 The practice of nursing is a noble calling that is meant to offer help to the sick people. The hallmark any medical practice, nursing included, is to offer unconditional service to the sick to aid their quick recovery and ensure that they are comfortable as they recover from illness. Thus, it is important to put into context the issue of pain treatment as it touches on the core issues that face the nursing profession. Offering care and support to persons suffering from pain is a critical issue and must be done with care and empathy. This means that the needs of the patient have to be given the top priority. The person seeking pain treatment is the one who knows exactly how painful it feels. Hence, it would be inappropriate to take for granted any of the concerns of the pain treatment patient. The assessment for pain should be done in a thorough but human manner in order to obtain a clinical view of the nature and source of pain. It should be noted that it is only the patient who knows the level of pain hence most of the primary information has to be sourced from the patient. Therefore, a good rapport has to be created right from the onset of the assessment process. This will help to put the patient at ease and hence facilitate smooth exchange of information. It is necessary to manage the pin as soon as possible. Theoretically, it may talk long to ascertain the real cause of pain especially for chronic cases. It would be unfair to let the patient continue suffering from pain as the source is being investigated. This implies that emergency measures to temporary stop the pain should be implemented as soon as it is safe for the patient. This will help to alleviate the suffering of the patient as better interventions are sought. The other impact of the concept on my individual practice is that empathic treatment of pain patients is critical in their recovery. This means that as it is essential to put yourself in the shoes of the pain treatment patient. By having the same feeling, it becomes easier to see things in the patients’ perspective even when it is not possible to use clinical evaluation. Pain patients need plenty of emotional support and thus, it is necessary to handle them in a gentle manner. The hospital environment should also be made conducive for pain treatment. All public areas must be easily accessible so as to spare those in pain from undergoing further agony as they try to access medical help. There should be an official policy to compel all staff to be helpful to anyone who may need assistance. Pain treatment patients may need help right from the hospitals’ main gate and any poor handling at the beginning may be detrimental to the later intervention process. Therefore, wheelchairs and casual assistants should be available and ready to assist if need be. Such a change of attitude in the entire hospital environment can go a long way in ensuring that the pain treatment is in reality, as pain free as possible. Being a student of nursing, pain is thus a familiar concept. Despite the fact that the injury of bodily tissues is an unfortunate occurrence, pain is not an entirely bad feeling. Pain hardens individuals especially the mental distress. People learn different lessons from their previous pains. A broken jaw and the associated pain becomes a permanent reminder of the effects of drunk driving or a careless lifestyle. One thus becomes cautious in a bid to avoid a recurrence of an accident. Mental distress caused by a misplaced decision becomes a constant reminder to the idea thereby making it easier to avoid making similar mistakes in future. A nurse comforting a patient in a hospital bed References Bozmowski, G. (2012) Patient Perceptions of Pain Management Therapy: A Comparison of Real-Time Assessment of Patient Education and Satisfaction and Registered Nurse Perceptions. Pain Management Nursing Volume 13, Issue 4 , Pages 186-193 Castle, D. J., & Buckley, P. F. (2008). Schizophrenia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Fogel, C. I., & Woods, N. F. (2008). Women's health care in advanced practice nursing. New York: Springer Pub. Margarete L. Z., Rose E.  & Kathleen L. A. (2008). The right to pain treatment: A reminder to nurses. Dimensions of Critical Care Nursing. Volume 27 Number 3  Pages 93 – 101 O'Carroll, P. W. (2002). Public health informatics and information systems. New York: Springer. SDroes, T. (2004). Role of the Nurse Practitioner in Managing Patients with Pain. The Internet Journal of Advanced Nursing Practice. Read More