Pain Management
Within a nursing home there are many elderly people who have come to get care from the facilities. Most of the elderly people are suffering from chronic illnesses and due to these conditions they experience a lot of pain and discomfort. The pain and discomfort has a lot of negative impact on the lives of the elderly in the nursing home. These impacts are particularly felt on an individuals well being and on their communication. It makes the patients feel very uncomfortable and they are not at peace. All the time an individual is restless trying to find a way to relieve their pain and discomfort. A person experiencing pain and discomfort is also not active. They can not carry out any activity since their body is not in a position to do anything as a result of the pain and discomfort (Severson, 2012).Their bodies do not function properly as they are not in a right state of mind due to the pain and discomfort they are feeling. Often individuals in this state are not in a position to communicate to the care givers in the nursing home on exactly what they are feeling. It is very difficult for them to give a full description of what they are feeling as some of the pain and discomfort might be psychological. Due to the communication problem it becomes very difficult for individuals to get the exact care they need to help them relieve their pain and make them more comfortable.
In the nursing home scenario it is very important to encourage the individuals to express their feelings of pain and discomfort. This can be achieved through carrying out regular counseling sessions which encourage the individuals to express their feelings. It can also be achieved through carrying out regular checks on individuals trying to find out how they are feeling and getting them talking on their experiences on pain and discomfort. It is very important to encourage them to express these feelings at it makes it easy for the caregivers to know exactly what they are dealing with. This will ensure that they come up with the correct remedy for the individuals (Severson, 2012).
Self-help methods are very useful when it comes to dealing with pain and discomfort. This is because the individual is the only one who knows exactly what they are feelings. Dealing with the pain and discomfort from an individual's point-of-view is the best and most appropriate way. Individuals can be encouraged by the care givers through helping them to draft self-help programs which they will follow in their path to elevating their pain and discomfort. They can also be encouraged to form self-help groups where they share their experiences and come up with ideas as a group to deal with the pain and discomfort (Scott, Baluch, Kaye, 2010).
Care givers in the nursing home can also assist individuals so as to ensure that they are positioned in a safe and comfortable manner. This can be done through finding out the comfortable and safe positions which an individuals can stay in .after the establishment of these positions then they can assist in making sure that the individuals are at this positions all the time so that they can not experience pain and discomfort.
There are various measures that have to be agreed upon between the patients and care givers so as to alleviate the pain and discomfort. It should be ensured that the agreed upon measures are followed routinely. Some of the measures can include taking medicine, regular exercises and sitting in particular position. Individuals should be encouraged to carry out the agreed measures. (Scott, Baluch, Kaye, 2010).
You’re 82% through this paper. Sign up to read the full paper.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.