Volume 20, No. 3 -- 2007
Aging, pain and long-term care
An interview with Joan M. Teno, MD, MS
Pain management in long-term care: Recent resources
RESEARCH IN PAIN CONTROL AND PALLIATIVE CARE:
Pain management in nursing homes
- Reports of severe pain by US patients in long-term hospice care are substantial
- Characteristics of nursing home residents with daily pain in the US
- Palliative care and pain control are inadequate for older cancer patients in US nursing homes
- Daily symptom assessment improves quality of life in nursing home patients with advanced illness
- Inadequate timing between pain assessment and clinical intervention for pain can contribute to pain in nursing home residents
- Nursing home residents with pain do not always seek pain medications
- Training palliative care leaders can improve pain management in nursing homes
- Improving nursing home staff knowledge about pain assessment and management is possible
- Intervention with nursing staff improved the use of pain assessments in nursing homes
- Nurse practitioners are not used to their full potential to manage pain in elderly long-term care residents