Pain In Acute Hospitals: A Case Study

Acute hospitals are commonly known to pose significant risk of other acute care issues, especially towards vulnerable groups, like dementia patients. Such risks result in dysfunctional and distress behaviours, a general deconditioning of physical wellbeing resulting in a lose of function and independence, delirium and falls (Edvardsson & Nay, 2010). As evident within Patricia’s scenario where she began to call and lush out at health care professions. Subsequently, it is important to apply a philosophy of care that is person centred in order to established best practice. This holistic approach involves merging clinical guidelines and assessments in order to maintain the optimal health amongst Patricia’s stay in hospital.

Considering Patricia’s cognitive …show more content…
Evidence from Lichtner et al., (2016) study have indicated that because of the nature of dementia causing a progressive decline in cognition and function it makes it difficult for individuals to self report pain as they cannot particularly articulate the presence and recall the intensity of pain. Consequently, leading to slow rehabilitation, impaired movement and an increased risk of falling (Lichtner et al., 2016). Hence, an intuitive approach can be used to assess and manage pain such as the Abbey Pain Scale assessment tool. It is a relevant tool used to diagnose and treat pain by measuring the effectiveness of pain relieving (Gregersen, Melin, Nygaard, Nielsen & Beedholm-Ebsen, 2016). A movement based assessment pain scale will be observed based on Patricia’s vocalisation, facial expression, change in body language, behavioural, physiological and physical changes within the body. The utilisation of the Abbey Pain Scale allows us to evaluate the total pain score distinguishing between no pain, mild, moderate or