Pain Care

Everyone has a different response to pain. Health care professionals need to be aware that pain is whatever the person experiencing pain says it is. Pain is typically divided into two classifications: acute and chronic, and the three primary types are nociceptive pain, non-nociceptive pain, and psychogenic pain. Treatments for pain are drug-based and non-drug based and there are varied types and dosing regimens of pain medication. While health care professionals do not administer pain medications, they need to have a basic knowledge and familiarity with commonly used pain medications and their side effects. Importantly, the healthcare professional is able to deliver comfort measures to patients experiencing pain to help alleviate their symptoms and to enhance their feeling that the health team cares about their pain.