Describe your 10/10 pain. Piggybacking off of recent pain discussions.

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I have felt 10/10 pain. I had a medical procedure that was incredibly painful, awake and unmedicated. Being a nurse, I wanted to be tough. I closed my eyes, gripped the table, moaned, clenchedd my teeth, every muscle in my body tensed and had "tunnel vision" if I opened my eyes. Sounds also seemed distorted. All I could focus on was the horrific pain. As the nurses and doctor asked me questions I could only get out one-word answers.

When the procedure was over, they encouraged me to rest, but I wanted to be tough. So I got up and had a vasovagal response to the pain. My blood pressure dropped, my hands and feet went cold yet my core felt like I was feverish. I was so pale my lips were ghostly white. I got dizzy and felt as close to blacking out as I have ever been in my life. I was rushed back to bed and had to remain for extra time to recover.

I know everyone reacts differently to pain, but when someone says their finger pain is 10/10, while sitting upright calmly in bed, it makes me wonder. But then again, I am not someone used to pain. Do you think people misunderstand the pain scale? Do you think the 10/10 is over used?

Specializes in Internal medicine/critical care/FP.

10/10 pain = sleeping when i walk in the room, then, with a gentle yawn, stating they are in 10/10 pain. Been in nursing, both as an rn and now an np, both hospital settings. In my experience, it is pretty much impossible to get an accurate measurement of pain. Its honestly as accurate as asking "hows your BP feel today."

Overall, I try to judge pain by what the patient says it is, unless of course your coming off the vent from an OD, cursing out the staff, so drowsy your obviously on too much medication, or if your sleeping comfortably when I enter the room but state your dying from the pain once i wake you, intoxicated with ETOH, high off of your DOC, a frequent flyer for 100% OBVIOUS bullcrappy complaints, lie about what medication you take (I run KASPER reports on everybody). etc.

Any of the above= no perks for you.

None of the above I'm pretty liberal with what i prescribe, but you will be titrated to PO meds very quickly prior to DC

of course there are certain circumstance such as cancer, truly chronic problems, etc that the above criteria isn't used for.

Specializes in Acute Care - Adult, Med Surg, Neuro.

I guess I was thinking the scale meant "10" being imaginable pain. Although it is hard to even imagine what a 10/10 pain would feel like before you experience it, I personally would not rate my headache a 10/10 etc because I know that there is worse pain (even without experiencing it). I know my finger cellulitis pain is not 10/10 because there are people out there with bone cancer who are going through things I could not even fathom. I need to know what is a 10/10 and what is not. If you have a 10/10 headache, I am worried about hemorrhagic stroke, or even mennigitis. If you have 10/10 pain after your lap chole, I may be concerned about hemorrhage. Of course along with other symptoms. A 10/10 pain should be a HUGE red flag that something is majorly wrong with someone. If you have 10/10 belly pain maybe you have perfed a bowel. I need to know that. When people overuse 10/10, it makes it hard for me to determine what constitutes a critical emergency.

On the flip side, I have had people under-rate pain. I had a man rate his chest pain 1/10. I never ignore chest pain, and it turned out he was having an acute MI.

Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.

I have had some migraines that were truly 10/10. (I can hear the eyeballs of some ED nurses here rolling.) I recently suffered a fracture when I got up to walk over to another room; even heard the bone snap. Yeah, that was ~10/10. Some of my cancer pain has been 10/10.

You absolutely can sleep and still have 10/10 pain. Exhaustion from unrelieved pain can cause it, as can using sleep as an escape mechanism.

It saddens me to see nurses who take an adversarial approach to their patients who have pain, treating them almost as if they were criminals for asking for pain medication. I'm glad I was fortunate to be mentored years ago by a pain management specialist who was generous in sharing her knowledge and expertise. I'm sure that did much to prevent me from becoming "one of those nurses" who takes a punitive approach to medicating patients in pain.

After 27 years of doing this thing called nursing, if you say to me that you have pain, I believe it. If you have multiple pain meds ordered I will always go first to the strongest and max dose I can give you. The doc orders it, I'll give it. What skin off my back is it? Why even bother stressing over it. In the couple of days under my care I will not cure them if any possible addiction.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I have had some migraines that were truly 10/10. (I can hear the eyeballs of some ED nurses here rolling.) I recently suffered a fracture when I got up to walk over to another room; even heard the bone snap. Yeah, that was ~10/10. Some of my cancer pain has been 10/10.

You absolutely can sleep and still have 10/10 pain. Exhaustion from unrelieved pain can cause it, as can using sleep as an escape mechanism.

It saddens me to see nurses who take an adversarial approach to their patients who have pain, treating them almost as if they were criminals for asking for pain medication. I'm glad I was fortunate to be mentored years ago by a pain management specialist who was generous in sharing her knowledge and expertise. I'm sure that did much to prevent me from becoming "one of those nurses" who takes a punitive approach to medicating patients in pain.

I think too many nurses have seen patients complaining of 10/10 abdominal pain while devouring a bucket of fried chicken, or 10/10 post op pain while sitting watching TV, texting friends and laughing loud enough to rouse the nearly dead patient next door. I've seen it, you've seen it. We've all seen it. I also remember being so exhausted I could sleep with 8/10 pain after my cancer surgery . . . and being ever so grateful to the nurses who took me at my word that the pain was 8/10 and gave me dilaudid. Sometimes, it takes wisdom to know the difference between the two, and sometimes all it takes is eyes.

I work in the ER. 99% of the pain reports are 10/10. Regardless of the pain source.

It's easy to want to roll your eyes at the finger pain with no swelling, redness, discoloration, especially when they report this is going on 6 months and 1am on a Wednesday night... time to get it checked.

I never question anyone's report of pain. Sometimes I question the doc who wants to order iv dilaudid for the finger pain of 6 months, but never the patient. It goes along with the n/v/abd pain pt who's wolfing down a McDonald's meal box in front of me, demanding dilaudid and phenergan.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

My husband, who is also a nurse and ought to know better, instructed me as he drove me to the ER for my CSF-leak induced headache: "Be sure to tell them it's 11/10 pain, honey."

I told them it was 8/10 -- which it was -- and I still got dilaudid and phenergan.

Do you think the projectile vomiting that managed to splash the nurse on the other side of the room helped?

Specializes in PCCN.

Well, if we're making comparisons, I'd give my ruptured disc and the aftermath a 20/10, because even a year later , I still remember it plain as day, and my md sending me home with 1 norco x 4 pills and basically being told to "suck it up" Pain mgmt MD ( who I had to see after for injections) said why didn't I just go to ED?

I don't recall labor hurting that much( but did end up with c-sec) but rate kidney stone right up there too. Any pain that is so severe that it makes you vomit is pretty severe in my book.

Specializes in LTC, med/surg, hospice.

I don't think I have had 10/10 pain experience though labor was very close.

My approach to pain is as many have stated....I want to manage the pain not try to make patients have a higher pain tolerance and rate pain to my satisifaction.

I think the biggest challenge for me has been patients with chronic issues that are wanting their pain to be a 0 and sometimes that is not possible.

Specializes in ER, TRAUMA, MED-SURG.

Hi! I can remember twice presenting to the ER with pain 10/10. First time was when I had pancreatitis due to a stone lodged in my duct.

Second time was when I had a horrible h/a. Ended up in ICU having a CVA.

Anne, RNC

Specializes in PCCN.
rate pain to my satisifaction.

I think the biggest challenge for me has been patients with chronic issues that are wanting their pain to be a 0 and sometimes that is not possible.

Key word- satisfaction. We get told that if someone is not satisfied with their pain relief, we aren't doing something right. What are we supposed to do- hunt down the mD who has said he is not ordering anything more d/t pt having "drug seeking behaviors" ?

We still get dinged for that one.

I will say I have had some chronics who say their pain goes from a 10 to a 9, and they are ok with that

Pain is subjective. They could have a very low tolerance or that could be the worst pain they've ever been in or they could be trying to keep it contained. Some people will resist the urge to cry or make it obvious because it'd make the pain worse if they acknowledged it (good in theory maybe). I'd considered my labor (before the epidural) as 10/10 until I high-sided my motorcycle and had a 3x4" road rash on my right knee (which was also sprained, along with my ankle) and a huge 8x10" road rash on my right side. The 10/10 pain came when they were cleaning my wounds in the ER--that far exceeded any labor pains I'd experienced!

+ Add a Comment