Acute Pain Control

Acute pain can be described as being mild to severe and can last for weeks and up to six months. This type of pain stops when the actual cause of the pain has been treated properly or alleviated. According to the National Center for Health Statistics (2006) “approximately 76.2 million, one in every four Americans, have suffered from pain that lasts longer than twenty-four hours and millions more suffer from acute pain.” An important aspect of patient care is pain control which can be accomplished by a multimodal approach. This narrative will review the best practice and guideline of multimodal techniques for the management of acute pain. The journal article Practice Guidelines for Acute Pain Management in the Perioperative Setting published

It is also important for the nurse to use evidence-based research, which this guideline does. Another nursing role would be to educate the patient about these techniques and its benefits. It would also be the responsibility of the nurse to document results in the patient chart. It is important for nurses to follow these things because it is part of the nursing process. The nursing process is important because it provides a framework for patient care and helps develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This process allows nurses to identify potential problems, develop solutions and evaluate results. Consequences, such as disciplinary action, could arise from not following the nursing process. This is expected from a professional nurse. “Pain affects more Americans than diabetes, heart disease and cancer combined” (NIH, 2013). Studies have shown that by using multimodal techniques for pain management, a patient can have better pain management. This guideline was made to try and assure better patient outcomes when it comes to acute pain management. A nurse plays an important role in using this guideline by using the nursing process to assure best patient outcomes for the management of acute pain. By implementing this guideline and best practice acute pain can be better managed with less opioid use and can create better pain