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Patients may not have a frame of reference for their pain and so may find it hard to report or describe it. The team at St. Mary's Medical Center in Madison, Wisconsin, tried several approaches to educate patients about pain management and, at the same time, to heighten provider awareness of the need to ask patients about pain intensity levels. St. Mary's wrote and distributed two patient education pamphlets, developed three algorithms on pain management for health care workers, posted a large 0-to-10 scale in patient rooms, and developed a vital sign sheet with a graph for reported pain intensity and acceptable levels.
The group reviewed five charts and surveyed five patients each week. At the end of a 16-week study, St. Mary's had achieved some of its pain management goals. As documentation improved, so did patient satisfaction.
| Table 3.2 Pain Management Goals Met | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Week 8 | Week 16 | |
| Pain level asked | 65% | 77% | 76% |
| Prompt attention | 60% | 100% | 100% |
| Acceptable level asked | 7.2% | 61% | 52% |
| Acceptable level met | 20% | 65% | 93% |
| Reprinted with permission of St. Mary's Health Center, St. Louis, MO | |||
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This online version of the book Improving Care for the End of Life: A Sourcebook for Health Care Managers and Clinicians is provided with permission of Americans for Better Care of the Dying [ www.abcd-caring.org ] and Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For further information on quality improvement in end-of-life care visit The Palliative Care Policy Center [ www.medicaring.org ]. |
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