Cancer Pain

When managing the childs pain during cancer treatment the nurse must work with an interdisciplinary team involving many different experts to come up with the best possible pain management plan for the child. The nurse would be the one to carry this plan out in the child’s care. Knowing what opioid’s, nonopioids, NSAIDS, acetaminophen with codeine, oxycodone, and morphine to give during different times is crucial. The nurse must also know the side effects of these medication and monitor the child closely.

Narcotic analgesics, especially morphine are underused for pain control with in the medical field. This underuse is because medical professionals, including doctors, fear patient addiction, side effects and possible lose of their licenses. These fears deny adequate healing and a better quality of life to those who would benefit from a more effective use of these drugs, as done in hospice care.

Opioids are effective for the treatment of acute pain, such as pain following surgery. They have also been found to be important in palliative care (hospice) to help with the severe, chronic, disabling pain that may occur in some terminal conditions such as cancer. In many cases opioids are successful long-term care strategies for those with chronic cancer pain (CCP). There are not many alternatives for those with CCP like there are for those suffering acute or chronic non cancer pain (CNCP). In one study, conducted by Furlan et al. (2006), opioids were effective in the treatment of CNCP overall; they reduced pain and improved functional outcomes better than placebo. Strong opioids (oxycodone and morphine) were significantly superior, to naproxen and nortriptyline (respectively) for pain relief but not for functional outcomes. Unfortunately, Weak opioids (propoxyphene, tramadol and codeine) did not significantly outperform NSAIDs or TCAs for either pain relief or functional outcomes. Overall, if opioids are

Reducing pain among terminally ill persons is a nursing phenomenon of great importance. In this evidence based paper, terminally ill refers to patients with cancer that have six months or less to live and patients that are in hospice or undergoing palliative care. Pain, weakness, decreased intake of food and fluid, and altered breathing patterns are some physical symptoms often experienced by the terminally ill (Leow, Drury & Poon, 2010). Treating pain in the terminally ill is very important and challenging for nurses. Therefore, it is important for nurses to use both pharmacologic and nonpharmacological methods to reduce patient pain. Music therapy is one specific non pharmacological intervention nurses can use to manage pain in the terminally ill. The purpose of this paper is to write an empirically based literature review related to the effects music therapy has on reducing pain in the terminally ill.

Pain is one of the most influential symptoms that leads individuals to reach out to health care professionals to seek relief. Pain is subjective and unique to each person. Some individuals may have a higher pain tolerance than others. According to Frandsen (2014), “Pain is an unpleasant, sensory, emotional sensation associated with actual or potential tissue injury” (p. 889). Pain may be caused by a variety of elements, such as tissue or nerve damage and surgery. There are three main categories that pain is classified by, which are origin, duration, and cause. The main focus of this paper is on acute pain, chronic pain, and phantom pain. It is crucial to know how to assess each type of pain, as well as how to enhance it, or decrease the pain.

Step one, Geraldine pains will be monitored and documented at a regular interval by asking her to score her pain on a scale of (0-10) with 0 meaning zero pains and 10 being highly in pain. This will help in evaluating her cancer-related pain symptoms, which may involve viscera, nerve, or bone tissue. Use of rating scale aids helps in assessing level of pain and provides a tool for evaluating the effectiveness of analgesics, enhancing patient control of pain. Geraldine’s reported and unreported pain will be assessed. The discrepancy between reported and nonverbal cue can give us clues to the degree of pain, the effectiveness of

As mentioned above, opioids are extremely helpful in killing acute and cancer pain. Because opioid receptors are G-protein coupled reactions, the inhibitory G-protein is usually coupled or attached with the receptors (Ghelardini et al., 2015, page 219). The onset of reaction in inhibit the pain is rapid and effective due to multiple inhibitory actions at the terminal site (refer to the previous section of mechanism of action). Besides, the interaction of opioids gradually increases the threshold of pain neuron as well as attenuates the pain subjective evaluation (Ghelardini et al., 2015, page 220).

In the alleviation of pain in chronic conditions such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis, opioids are used. The codeine that falls under opioids is ten times less efficient compared to morphine. Some opioid analgesics such as hydromorphone are more potent compared to morphine, reports Rxlist. The opioid drugs act by binding to opioid receptors in the central nervous system. Unlike other analgesics that inhibits cyclooxygenase enzymes involved in mediating the

Pain, which is defined in its widest sense as an emotion which is the opposite of pleasure (White, 2004, p.455), is one of the major symptoms of cancer, affecting a majority of sufferers at some point during their condition (De Conno & Caraceni, 1996, p.8). The World Health Organization (WHO, 2009, online) suggests that relief from pain may be achieved in more than 90 percent of patients;

Chronic, acute, somatic and oncologic are all types pain - each with their own symptoms, reliefs, and evaluations. As pain has been explored, we have learned more about it; however, it remains an anomaly. In the postoperative setting, nurses are the first line of pain management. Their assessments of the patient’s pain, including questions and scaling is imperative when dosing medications and evaluating the patient. Studies continue to determine that healthcare providers undertreat and mismanage pain control and assessment. According, to the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, “80% to 90% of physicians have had no formal training in prescribing controlled substances, and only five out of one hundred thirty-three medical schools in the U.S. have required courses on pain management” (Glowacki, p. 37). The American Nurse Credentialing Center reported that “as of 2013, only one thousand six hundred seventy two registered nurses in the U.S. were certified in pain management” (Glowacki, p. 37). According to the CDC, about 50% of postoperative patients report unrelieved pain (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). Effective postoperative pain control is necessary for successful care and treatment. Inadequate relief of postoperative pain can contribute to postoperative complications such as atelectasis, deep vein thrombosis, and delayed wound healing (Francis &

o Review of related literature: In what ways does the literature review support the need for this study?

Marion Good, PhD, RN, has focused her study, “A Middle-Range Theory of Acute pain Management: Use in Research,” on complementary medicine for pain and stress, acute pain, and stress immunity. The purpose of this theory is to put into practice guidelines for pain management. Good, 1998, noted the need for a balance between medication usage and side effects of pain medications. The theory also promoted patient education related to pain management following surgery and encouraged plan development for acceptable levels of pain management. This theory was developed through deductive reasoning. Chinn & Kramer, 2008, defined deductive reasoning as going from a general concept to a more specific concept.

There is technology and medicine that exists today that can control pain effectively.  While there are still some obstacles, some major efforts have been made to overcome them.  Many medical personnel are uninformed and may use outdated or unsatisfactory methods and often do not properly relieve their patient's pain.  As a result, many patients see Physician Assisted Suicide as the only way out.  For patients in severe pain, administration of an opioid, in particular morphine, has been proven to provide effective pain management for the majority of patients.

Chronic Pain is an interesting problem in society today. The exact cause of Chronic Pain is not the same in every patient. In fact most patients present with different symptoms and associated pathologies, such as the strong link with depression. Treatment of Chronic Pain is often performed a single practitioner whether that be a Medical Doctor, Chiropractor, Nutritionist, or an alternative health care professional. Chronic Pain is often extremely complex, because of this treatment needs to be multidimensional. Effective care of Chronic Pain requires the collective cooperation of health care professionals

The researchers Running and Turnbeaugh (2011), appraised arrays of research articles that utilized therapeutic touch, massage therapy, and acupuncture to alleviate bone pain, visceral pain, and neuropathic pain in cancer patients. The researcher’s inclusive inference of the literature appraisal championed the utilization of complementary remedies in bestowing symptom aid and lessening pain in cancer patients (Running & Turnbeaugh, 2011). According to Running and Turnbeaugh (2011), these therapies needs to be used as appendage therapies and must not substitute pharmacological