title: Developing a pain management program through continuous improvement strategies.
abstract: Pain affects more than one third of cancer patients in the early stages of their disease, dramatically rising above 70% in the advanced stages. Numerous studies have been conducted in the pursuit of cancer pain relief, yet the prevalence of pain persists. This article focuses on a pain management program, developed by a performance improvement team, which addressed the inadequacies of current pain management. Performance improvement activities are described through the process of assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation of the pain management program. This pain management program is uniquely derived from a unit core value that all staff is responsible and accountable for pain management.
authors.affiliation: St. Joseph Medical Center, Tacoma, WA 98405, USA. stratair@aol.com
authors.forename: Dora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Woodward
mesh_terms: D000698:Analgesia / Q000451:nursing / Q000592:standards; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006040:Goals; D006801:Humans; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000592:standards; D009731:Nursing Audit; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009737:Nursing Records / Q000592:standards; D009859:Oncology Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D010146:Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000451:nursing / Q000592:standards; D010347:Patient Care Planning / Q000592:standards; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D015995:Prevalence; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D017749:Total Quality Management / Q000458:organization & administration*