Adult pain assessment and management

For health professionals, one of the most common patient problems they will encounter is pain. Although this is universally experienced, effective assessment and management is sometimes difficult to achieve, as pain is also extremely complex. Therefore, when a patient states they are in pain it is every health professional's duty to listen to what they say, believe that pain is what they say it is, observe for supporting information using appropriate and varied assessment approaches, and act as soon as possible using suitable management strategies.

The holistic assessment and management of pain is important, as pain involves the mind as well as the body, and is activated by a variety of stimuli, including biological, physical, and psychological (Boore et al, 2016). For some patients, the pain they experience can be short-lived and easy to treat, but for others, it can cause significant issues in relation to their overall health and wellbeing (Flasar and Perry, 2014).