Assignment Instructions
Non-pharmacological and Psychological Pain Management Brochure
The purpose of this assignment is to evaluate effective non-pharmacological and psychological pain management techniques.
Matthew, age 13, and his mothers have arrived in the pediatric unit for evaluation of his chronic pain related to cancer. Matthew is a bright, articulate young man who appears pale, anxious, and extremely uncomfortable. He is still rating his pain at a 10 (on a scale of 1 to 10) 20 minutes after receiving a dose of morphine sulfate IV, which should have provided quick and effective relief. The primary health care provider is ordering a pain consult. Until the pain management team arrives, Matthew's nurse asks you to suggest some non-pharmacological or psychological pain management techniques for Matthew.
You work with Matthew on three different techniques and give him and his mothers an educational brochure that describes each of the techniques, explains how to do the techniques, and explains why the techniques are beneficial.
Your assignment is to make the patient education brochure you have just given to Matthew and his mothers. Complete a literature search and choose three age-appropriate, non-pharmacological or psychological pain management techniques you believe would be of greatest benefit for Matthew. Give a thorough description of each technique, explain how to do each technique, and explain why each technique is beneficial. As with all written patient education material, remember to consider the reading level of your patient audience and evaluate your brochure for readability. Include the Readability Index Score at the bottom of your brochure.
The purpose of the brochure is to outline specific techniques that Matthew and his family can implement themselves while awaiting a pain consult. This is called stress-point coping-- putting the control in the hands of the patient while they are in a stressful (in this case, pain crisis) situation. Interventions that require a consult with another professional (eg., music therapy, art therapy, pet therapy, etc...) do not meet this criteria. This is because the service delivery is not through a CCLS. There are many behavioral techniques a CCLS can explain that help cope with pain that don't require a consult by a different discipline.