Pain Management

Assessment of Pain management

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Pain assessment is critical to optimal pain management interventions. While pain is a highly subjective experience, its management necessitates objective standards of care. The WILDA approach to pain assessment focusing on words to describe pain, intensity, location, duration, and aggravating factors offers a concise template for assessment in patients with acute and chronic pain. Assessment of the patient experiencing pain is the cornerstone to optimal pain management. However, the quality and utility of any assessment tool is only as good as the clinician's ability to thoroughly focus on the patient. This means listening empathically, believing and legitimizing the patient's pain, and understanding, to the best of his or her capability, what the patient may be experiencing. A health care professional's empathic understanding of the patient's pain experience and accompanying symptoms confirms that there is genuine interest in the patient as a person. This can influence a positive pain management outcome. After the assessment, quality pain management depends on clinicians' earnest efforts to ensure that patients have access to the best level of pain relief that can be safely provided. Clinicians most successful at this task are those who are knowledgeable, experienced, empathic, and available to respond to patient needs quickly.