Pain scale (Rated R)!!!

Nurses Humor

Published

Found in another post here on allnurses...

I have a great story about this. The pain team was rounding in the ICU and stopped to see an early-20's-something guy who had had pleurodesis and still had his chest tube in. Now, I'll grant you CT's hurt like hell. But this guy was whining like you wouldn't believe, despite the PCA epidural. So the anesthesiologist asked him to rate his pain 0 - 10, with 10 being the worst. "Ten," the pt whined. The doc paused, and said, "No, I don't think you clearly understand the pain scale. Let me give you an example. If I took 2 bricks, and SMASHED!! your balls between them, that would be a 10. Now, given that, how would you rate your pain right now?" "Oh", the startled pt replied.

"Three."

:eek:

Specializes in Oncology, Corrections.

The opening story is funny! Unfortunately most patients will say "yeah, that's how I feel, like someone smashed my balls with two bricks" as they are sitting there smiling, hads placed neatly on their lap, waving to a passerby.

Um, Chas....I had a patient who was sitting, smiling, chatting, etc. He was there simply for a vital sign check. I asked if he was having any pain at this time. There seemed to be no need to ask about pain, but I have to ask. He said "I have a slight headache right now." "It's a 10/10." Maybe he misunderstood, 10 is the WORST pain ever! Even attempts at educating about the pain scale did not help. It was still a 10/10. I have to disagree with you Chas, this patient even said "slight headache". Sure, we are not to judge a person's perception of pain, but I feel that it would be poor medicine to medicate with a narcotic based on this. If it's a 10 and we are supposed to believe them, then why would we give Tylenol? This guy needs the full treatment. It's a 10! Call 911, get out the big guns, run to the nearest pixis!

Their perception is either a lie, or they do not understand the pain scale. Well, I have already tried to educate this man, so.....

As nurses we are taught to assess. You can assess someone sitting and smiling vs. someone in the fetal position. But we are not allowed to do this because their pain is what they say it is, period. Our assessment skills are being thrown out the window. I think this is a complete joke!

If nursing was doing a bad job at managing pain, I think we could have found a better solution than this.

Specializes in ORTHOPAEDICS-CERTIFIED SINCE 89.

I was having angina I rated as a 4, The EMT gave me asa and 2 spritz's of tng. He said in a few minutes how is it now & I said it's abated. When I got to the ER he said 'she's faking" she said it went to an 8 after treatment' Apparently abated is not on the pain scale any more . Go figure.

When I initially ask for a pain rating, I always say:

"Could you rate your pain for me on a scale of zero to ten, with zero being absolutely no pain, and ten having your arm ripped off without any anesthesia."

Specializes in PICU, NICU, L&D, Public Health, Hospice.

It is difficult to get to the bottom of pain for many patients. Some nurses are committed to excellent pain assessments, some nurses not so much.

Some nurses are misinformed and jaded about pain treatment. Some nurses just don't care. Other nurses are too arrogant to understand that they are not able to determine what is tolerable for a patient and what is not.

I watch nurses interact with patients in the hospital, in the home, in LTC and ALF regarding pain. Some are good at it....and some, frankly, are horrible. The suggestion to ask a question, then another, then another is spot on when it comes to pain. The pain assessment is way way more than a number on a 1-10 scale or identification of a smiley face...any indication of discomfort deserves at least 3 more questions.

+ Add a Comment