Stress and coping - Essay Example

STRATEGIES OF COPING WITH STRESS by Pain assessment intimates an evaluation of a patient complaining of pain to determine factors that cause, alleviate or exacerbate it. In many instances, health professionals have the duty of assessing pain so that they can devise modalities of managing and containing it. The health professional assessing pain has to take a patient own report concerning the pain, understand it, and classify it using scales and pain rating. He considers its severity, location of the pain, what palliates or provokes the pain, the patient’s perception and psychological attitude towards it.

The professional must also take into consideration the patient’s nonverbal signs such as moaning and groaning. The professional must thereafter conduct regular re assessment to evaluate the efficacy of treatment. Assessing pain helps to determine the mode of treatment and management; depending whether it is acute or chronic, nociception or neuropathy. This also helps to provide quality care to patients, since nurses are aware, for example, the location of the pain. Consequently, they are able to avoid doing acts capable of exacerbating the pain.

There are several modes of treatment, ranging from surgery to medication. Pain assessment helps the professional to proscribe the most efficient and cost effective mode. Where the pain is severe, for example, patients suffering from cancer, such patients can be treated with extreme modes like cutting nerves or more moderate methods like medication to the patient suffering from acute pain. Moreover, pain assessment helps to identify the biological contributors of pain. As such, the doctors are able to treat the cause of the problem.

Finally, depending on the patient’s perception of pain, the professional can recommend cognitive, behavioral approaches to tackling pain. The help of a psychologist or physiotherapist may be sought.ReferencesA comprehensive pain assessment - PAINXCHANGE – Your. available from http://www.painxchange.com.au/AssessmentTools/CompPA.aspx (accessed October 24, 2011)Assessing Pain - Tips on Recognizing and Assessing Pain, available from http://dying.about.com/od/assessingpain/a/painassessment.

htm (accessed October 24, 2011).goa wildwatch: April 2010, available from http://goawildwatch.blogspot.com/2010_04_01_archive.html (accessed October 24, 2011).