Assessing pain in patients.
This article defines pain and discusses options for pain assessment. Both unidimensional and multidimensional pain assessment scales are considered and described. Nursing skills required to carry out pain assessment are identified and discussed.
McLafferty
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E
School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Dundee, Dundee. i.h.r.mclafferty@dundee.ac.uk
Farley
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A
D000208:Acute Disease; D002755:Choice Behavior; D002908:Chronic Disease; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications; D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D010146:Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000451:nursing; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires