Nursing Care of Patients in Pain – Chapter 10

0.0(0)
studied byStudied by 0 people
learnLearn
examPractice Test
spaced repetitionSpaced Repetition
heart puzzleMatch
flashcardsFlashcards
Card Sorting

1/29

flashcard set

Earn XP

Description and Tags

Vocabulary flashcards summarizing essential pain-management terms, concepts, and safety considerations discussed in the Chapter 10 lecture.

Study Analytics
Name
Mastery
Learn
Test
Matching
Spaced

No study sessions yet.

30 Terms

1
New cards

Acute Pain

Pain that generally lasts less than 3 months (often < 6 months), decreases as healing occurs, and is usually accompanied by short-term objective signs such as ↑HR, ↑BP, ↑RR.

2
New cards

Chronic Pain

Persistent or recurrent pain that lasts longer than the expected time of healing (often > 6 months); may lack overt vital-sign changes and can lead to depression or negative behaviors.

3
New cards

Suffering

State that arises when pain persists without meaning or relief, threatening a person’s identity and well-being; associated with distress, impaired healing, and risk of suicide.

4
New cards

International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) Definition

Defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.”

5
New cards

McCaffery Definition of Pain

“Pain is whatever the experiencing person says it is, existing whenever the person says it does.” Emphasizes self-report as the gold standard.

6
New cards

Nociceptive Pain

Pain resulting from actual or threatened damage to non-neural tissue and activation of nociceptors (e.g., surgical incision, osteoarthritis).

7
New cards

Neuropathic Pain

Pain caused by lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system (e.g., diabetic neuropathy, phantom limb pain, shingles).

8
New cards

Inflammatory Response

Local tissue reaction to injury that releases chemical mediators, producing redness, heat, swelling, and acute pain.

9
New cards

Stress Response

Systemic release of hormones (e.g., cortisol, catecholamines) during uncontrolled pain, leading to ↑metabolic rate, impaired immunity, and poor wound healing.

10
New cards

Pain Threshold

The point at which a stimulus is perceived as painful.

11
New cards

Pain Tolerance

Amount of pain a person can endure before seeking relief; varies with history, culture, mood, and expectation.

12
New cards

Addiction

Compulsive drug use for non-therapeutic reasons, continued despite harm, with loss of control and craving.

13
New cards

Physical Dependence

Physiologic adaptation to a drug shown by withdrawal symptoms if the drug is stopped abruptly; not the same as addiction.

14
New cards

Tolerance

Need for increased drug doses over time to achieve the same analgesic effect because of physiologic adaptation.

15
New cards

Pseudo-addiction

Drug-seeking behavior that occurs when pain is undertreated; resolves when adequate analgesia is provided.

16
New cards

Balanced Analgesia

Use of two or more classes/routes of analgesics (e.g., opioid + NSAID + acetaminophen) to achieve better pain control with fewer side effects.

17
New cards

Non-pharmacological Pain Management

Techniques such as relaxation, heat/cold, massage, acupuncture, guided imagery, prayer, or meditation used to complement drugs.

18
New cards

5 Rights of Medication Administration

Right patient, right drug, right dose, right route, right time—core safety checks before giving analgesics.

19
New cards

Pain Assessment

Systematic evaluation of location, intensity, quality, onset, duration, aggravating/relieving factors, and functional impact; includes patient’s self-report.

20
New cards

Comfort Goal (Target Pain Goal)

Mutually agreed level of pain relief or function that guides interventions and evaluation (e.g., able to walk to bathroom with pain ≤ 3/10).

21
New cards

Safety in Pain Management

Practice of preventing harm through correct dosing, monitoring for respiratory depression, checking allergies, and recognizing drug interactions.

22
New cards

Cultural Influences on Pain

Language, family roles, beliefs, and preferred treatments that shape how pain is expressed, assessed, and managed.

23
New cards

Spiritual Coping

Use of faith, prayer, meditation, or meaning-making to alleviate or re-frame the pain experience.

24
New cards

Phantom Pain

Neuropathic pain perceived in a body part that has been amputated; proof that tissue damage is not required for pain.

25
New cards

Complementary Modalities

Non-mainstream practices (e.g., acupressure, herbal teas, music therapy) used alongside conventional care to enhance comfort.

26
New cards

Weak-to-Strong Drug Chart (Analgesic Ladder)

Conceptual tool that orders analgesics from non-opioids to weak opioids to strong opioids for stepwise pain control.

27
New cards

Prioritization

Clinical decision process of determining which patient problem (e.g., uncontrolled pain) requires first intervention.

28
New cards

Evaluation of Outcomes

Post-intervention verification that pain goals are met and side effects are managed; drives further care planning.

29
New cards

Balanced Responsibility

Shared duty of nurse and patient: nurse facilitates relief, patient communicates honestly about pain and goals.

30
New cards

Syndrome (Pain Context)

Complex set of signs/symptoms (e.g., toxic shock syndrome) that, if misunderstood, can mask uncontrolled pain and lead to suffering.