Pain Management
Pain can have a serious impact on your quality of life. Pain can change your mood, cause you to lose sleep, and interfere with your daily activities. You have a right to good pain management. It is your responsibility to inform us about your pain in order to achieve the best results.
Our recommendations:
- Make sure that a member of your health care team is aware of any pain you are having. Some patients are hesitant to discuss their pain, but we encourage you to do so.
- Tell your health care team the following things about your pain:
- Where the pain is located
- How bad the pain is
- What has helped so far or in the past
- If pain medications are prescribed for you, please:
- Make sure you know who and when to call if your pain is not well controlled
- Learn the possible side effects of your medication
Pain Control
Tell your doctor or nurse if you are having pain. There are several times that you may expect a nurse to ask you to describe your level of pain, such as upon admission or visits to clinics, as a part of an ongoing assessment, and after the start of any pain-control measure. The caregiver will ask you to score your pain level on a scale of 1 through 10. If you are given a special IV pump for pain control, called Patient Controlled Analgesia (PCA), ask our staff if you are not sure how it works. There are many different medicines for pain relief. Tell our staff if you have had pain relief in the past from a specific medicine.Please ask your health care team for more specific information about pain and alternative methods of pain management appropriate for your personal condition.
