nursing management for chronic back pain

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Im doing an assignment on chronic back pain and my last question is nursing management for chronic back pain. Im really not sure what to write here, if someone could be of any assistance to me that would be great

thankyou

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

Chronic back pain is a medical condition. Nursing interventions would be based upon the signs and symptoms that the patient has. Break this medical condition down into its component signs and symptoms first. Then, work of nursing interventions of each of the signs and symptoms.

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Chronic back pain is a medical condition. Nursing interventions would be based upon the signs and symptoms that the patient has. Break this medical condition down into its component signs and symptoms first. Then, work of nursing interventions of each of the signs and symptoms.

Ok that confused me.....wouldn't the medical condition be whatever is causing the pain (ie a slipped disc), and the symptom be chronic back pain?

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Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
ok that confused me.....wouldn't the medical condition be whatever is causing the pain (ie a slipped disc), and the symptom be chronic back pain?

you need to know the medical condition to know what is going to help. since this is chronic (definition: of long duration; nanda definition: duration of greater than 6 months) then there is history connected with it. all problem identification begins with assessment of the signs and symptoms. pain as a nursing problem has signs and symptoms, so assessment to determine what they are is crucial to the planning of the care (nursing interventions). assessment and description of pain includes the following:

  • where the pain is located
  • how long it lasts
  • how often it occurs
  • a description of it (sharp, dull, stabbing, aching, burning, throbbing)
    • have the patient rank the pain on a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain

    [*]what triggers the pain

    [*]what relieves the pain

    [*]observe their physical responses (behavioral and sympathetic responses are more likely to be seen with chronic pain)

    • behavioral: changing body position, moaning, sighing, grimacing, withdrawal, crying, restlessness, muscle twitching, irritability, immobility
    • sympathetic response: pallor, elevated b/p, dilated pupils, skeletal muscle tension, dyspnea, tachycardia, diaphoresis
    • parasympathetic response: pallor, decreased b/p, bradycardia, nausea and vomiting, weakness, dizziness, loss of consciousness

i listed a bunch of interventions for acute pain, not chronic pain, on this thread: https://allnurses.com/nursing-student-assistance/nrsg-dx-total-376731.html - nrsg dx for total hip replacement

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