"My pain is about an eight and a half"

I work with a lot of engineers, chemists, and other scientists. They tend to report things in the decimals or use overly specific language just because that is how their brain works. They are not "scales" they are "load cells," the bendy part on a straw is not the "bendy part" it is the "bellows flex joint" etc.

Don't worry, nurses have their own weird language that drives other professional nuts as well.

Ah, yes....my dear sweet late husband was an accountant/CPA. My dear, sweet current husband is an.....engineer. Both were/have been/are, ahem, challenging at times.....one reason why I leave the medical stuff up to our PCP and let her deal with it! (Although, it was quite interesting to hear the discussion between my engineer and his oncologist when they were discussing the radiation treatment for his prostate cancer. My guy could really wrap his head around the specificity of the dosing. He even counted the seconds for each of the positions of the radiation machine for each of his 43 treatments.)

I round it up for documentation purposes.

My favorite, though? "Oh, my pain isn't bad at all. I give it an 8."

I round up, too.

Another one of my favorites:

Me: "Rate your pain on a scale of 0 to 10."

Pt: "Oh, it's not pain. It's a pressure (ache, stabbing feeling, etc.)."

Pain is so relative .......

I dutifully ask my patients to quantify from 0-10 (when i remember), but if you asked me to rate *my* pain, i'd be one of those annoying patients saying "it's not really pain, its just achy and sore," and "well i've had much worse pain in my life, but it's definitely the worst hangnail I've ever had- 3/10 overall, but 10/10 for a hangnail. Can't I just please have some ibuprofen and a bandaid?" Then I feel bad because I know they need a number, it's the Rule. So I just give a number that I think is high enough to qualify for 800mg ibuprofen haha

Regardless of my patient's stated pain scale, I am observing them for objective discomfort, and offering them appropriate pain management strategies based on my assessment or their request (TLC, ice pack, NSAIDs, lidocaine, narcotics on occassion, etc). We always had to put down number parameters when I wrote inpatient orders, but I don't have to play that game when I am writing an outpatient rx.

Worst pain I ever experienced was my one and only migraine. 12/10, unbearable. My unmedicated deliveries were maybe a 9/10 during second stage, but since I got breaks inbetween, overall i'd call it a 6. There I go being *that* patient again lmao.

Pt reports pain score 10/10, FLACC score of 3, hr and bp at baseline, currently involved in non-health related conversation with visitor while playing video games, non-pharmacological interventions applied: distraction, decrease noxious stimuli, encouraged visitor interaction, positioning....

.... will reassess in ___ hours/min

THIS. Pain is hard to quantify. A stated pain score needs to be placed in context. Some people under-report for various reasons, others over-report either because they've never really experienced severe pain so don't have a context, or because a higher dose of oxycodone is preferable to them.

I see where you're coming from Emergent, I think, and that being said would probably be one to use a decimal or fraction or who knows what if I'm really hurting.

Working though, I'd just round up and try not to discredit anyone just because some of us may not be fitting exactly in the number box. Besides, come on, you know rounding is fun. It's certainly one of the easier math equations out there. Is there any after effect of losing credibility?

I like what brownbook does and looks at the patient and the procedure and gives what's ordered accordingly more so than focusing on getting a specific number from a hurting person. I do understand the form you have wants their pain scale number filled in the box. So what did nurses do before the box? Use their keen assessment skills? Sounds good to me. They want a number give the paper a number.

Reminds me of a song...does it you???

I guess it depends upon where you are nursing. I have been around patients who have been in pain for so long that they are intimately aware of minute changes. I am saddened, as it really goes to their suffering and understanding of pain, which is far greater than anyone should have to endure. With these patients, I will always round up.