Pain mismanagement in long term care residents

Pain has been clinically defined as "whatever the experiencing person says it is, existing whenever the experiencing person says it does." Unfortunately, this definition is inadequate for understanding pain in long-term care residents, as many have cognitive deficits and/or are conscious of pain but are unable to express it. Moreover, residents often don't know how to get relief and staff members are unaware of the problem because they fail to adequately and routinely assess residents for pain. Therefore, both groups misunderstand the importance of managing pain....