Resource Tools
Q:
Questions have come up as to ideas on pain management in the labor and
delivery area, also NICU and how about the nursery for circumcisions? Any
ideas of pain scales to be used in these areas? We are in a quandary-nothing
seems to really fit.
A: There
are many articles on nonverbal scales for infants in the literature. Also,
look in the peds section of the Resource Manual -- St Judes has its FLACC
scale and Albany had a NIPS scale to assess pain in infants. There is a
circumcision guideline.
Q:
In a recent publication "Inside the Joint Commission" it states that there
is an "objective scale for unconscious patients with six total pain scales."
Is anyone aware of this and does anyone use something specific at this
point?
A: We
use a FLACC scale for our patients who are unable to respond. I believe
it was developed by people at University of Michigan, and by observing
the patient's Face, Legs, Activity, Cry and Consolability, there is a scale
that awards points to each category, coming up with a score that is equal
to a pain scale of 0-10. Hospice uses this scale frequently, and thus far
it has worked well. NOTE: The FLACC SCALE is located in the Building an
Institutional Commitment to Pain Management Manual (also on CD ROM) provided
in your project box.
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