Do patients talk to you about pain?

In the June issue, we published an article, “Let the Truth Be Told About Pain!” A patient currently receiving treatment for cancer told us how a nurse’s straightforward response helped her deal with her anxiety about pain. We asked our online reading community if their patients talked about pain. Clearly, this is an important issue for nurses, as we received more responses for this question than we have for any other question.

• 83% said their patients talked to them about pain
• 17% indicated that their patients did not talk to them about pain

Here’s a sample of the comments:

• Some patients require prodding to describe the pain or admit to pain because they equate pain with disease progression.
• We ask. Every visit.
• Pain assessment is the fifth vital sign.
• I usually tell my patients that in the oncology setting there are many issues related to their disease that we don’t have control over, but pain is an issue that can be addressed and managed, and oftentimes relieved….No one should be suffering in pain.