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Prevention
Pain is generally preventable only to the degree that the cause of the pain is preventable; diseases and injuries may be unavoidable. Some injuries, or reinjury, can be avoided. For example, proper muscle use and positioning when lifting heavy objects will prevent back injury. Increased pain, pain from surgery and other medical procedures, and continuing pain may be preventable through appropriate treatments and therapies.
KEY TERMS
Acute pain—Pain in response to injury or another stimulus that resolves when the injury heals or the stimulus is removed.
Chronic pain—Pain that lasts beyond the term of an injury or painful stimulus. The term may also refer to cancer pain, pain from a chronic or degenerative disease, and pain from an unidentified cause.
Neuron—A nerve cell.
Neurotransmitters—Chemicals within the nervous system that transmit information from or between nerve cells.
Nociceptor—A neuron that is capable of sensing pain.
Referred pain—Pain felt at a site different from the location of the injured or diseased part of the body. Referred pain is due to the fact that nerve signals from several areas of the body may "feed" the same nerve pathway leading to the spinal cord and brain.
Stimulus—A factor capable of eliciting a response in a nerve.
Transient—Staying in one place only for a brief amount of time.
BOOKS
Perry, Anne G., and Patricia A. Potter. Clinical Nursing Skills & Techniques, Fourth Edition. St. Louis: Mosby-Year Book, 1998.
PERIODICALS
Dahl, J., C. Pasero, and C. Patterson. "Institutionalizing Effective Pain Management Practices: The Implications of the New JCAHO Pain Assessment and Management
McCaffery, Margo. "Overcoming Barriers to Pain Management." Nursing 31 (April 2001): 18.
ORGANIZATIONS
American Association of Neuroscience Nurses. <http://www.aann.org/>.
American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. <http://www.aana.com/about/>.
American Chronic Pain Association. P.O. Box 850, Rocklin, CA 95677-0850. (916) 632-0922. <http://members.tripod.com/~widdy/ACPA.html/>.
American Pain Society. 4700 West Lake Avenue, Glenview, IL 60025. (847) 375-4715. <http://www.ampainsoc.org/>.
OTHER
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. "Pain Management Standards." Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals (January 2001). <http://www.jcaho.org/standard/pain_hap.html/>. (accessed May 11, 2001).
Lori Beck
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Author Info: Lori Beck, The Gale Group Inc., Gale, Detroit, Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health, 2002 |
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