Nurses' Perceptions of Pain Assessment and Treatment in the Cognitively Impaired Elderly
- 1 September 2000
- journal article
- patients and-clients
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Clinical Nurse Specialist
- Vol. 14 (5), 215-220
- https://doi.org/10.1097/00002800-200009000-00011
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to describe nurses' perceptions regarding the assessment and treatment of pain in patients with late-stage dementia. Thirty nurses from six long-term care facilities were interviewed using a semistructured format for this qualitative study. Initial results were presented to a second group for validation and refinement of findings. The most commonly cited behaviors used to indicate discomfort were facial grimacing, restless body movement, change in behavior, moaning, and tense muscles. Psychotropic drugs were perceived to be commonly misused because behavior changes were seen as a psychiatric problem rather than a representation of the patient's unmet need. Nurses had positive feelings about using both narcotics and non-narcotic analgesics with this population but believed both types of analgesics were underused. The most common concerns regarding the administration of narcotic analgesics to this population were falls, sedation, and constipation.Keywords
This publication has 13 references indexed in Scilit:
- Assessment and Treatment of Discomfort for People with Late-Stage DementiaJournal of Pain and Symptom Management, 1999
- EXAMINING PAIN in Aggressive Cognitively Impaired Older AdultsJournal of Gerontological Nursing, 1998
- Gerontological Nurses' WAYS OF KNOWINGJournal of Gerontological Nursing, 1998
- Pain in participants of adult day care centers: Assessment by different ratersJournal of Pain and Symptom Management, 1998
- Chronic pain in elderly peoplePain, 1997
- Assessing pain in elderly patients who cannot respond verballyJournal of Advanced Nursing, 1995
- Patterns of knowing: Review, critique, and updateAdvances in Nursing Science, 1995
- The Phenomenology of Knowing the PatientImage: the Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 1993
- Assessment of discomfort in advanced Alzheimer patientsResearch in Nursing & Health, 1992
- The Tragedy of Dementia: Clinically Assessing Pain in the Confused, Nonverbal ElderlyJournal of Gerontological Nursing, 1991