Cheryl Boldt

Pain management should be an automatic empathic response for healthcare workers. We have all experienced pain, and 9 chances out of 10 we immediately seek relief when we have it. Let's see what we can do to improve the empathic attention to pain and its relief. You will spend less time dealing with behavior problems, weight loss, depression, and falls if you assume pain and manage it. Intense pain gets the focus, and rightly so. But what about that ongoing chronic pain most of our residents do not even realize they suffer from, and healthcare workers may not address effectively.

OBJECTIVE:

By the end of this session each participant should be able to:

Effectively share the importance of pain management to your facility staff, and explain how it is good for the resident and for direct care givers.
Get facility direct care staff involved in the assessment and treatment of pain
Get physician buy in to pain management
Get family involvement in pain management
Measure improvements in other quality areas related to initiation of your PAIN FREE environment.

This presentation includes lecture, group discussion and individual action planning.