Essential pain management: how to improve your skills

Listen to this guest-presented podcast to ensure you are able to recognise, assess and treat patients’ pain holistically

‘Everybody’s going to get pain at some point in their lives - it’s something we’re all going to experience.’

And that’s why it is vital that all nurses have a firm grasp of essential pain management (EPM), adds RCN pain and palliative care forum chair Martin Galligan.

Holistic care for patients in pain

In this episode of the Nursing Standard podcast, guest host Martin, a lecturer practitioner at the Royal Marsden School in London, discusses what EPM is and how nurses can use it to provide holistic treatment for patients who are experiencing pain.

• RELATED: Pain: how can nurses support patients living with it?

Then, along with Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust pain management nurse consultant Karin Cannons and Birmingham Children’s Hospital nurse consultant Rachel Desai, he looks at how it can be used in practice.

• RELATED: Pain management: where to start and when to use assessment tools

EPM in practice: some real-world scenarios

Martin, Karin and Rachel use the RAT structure of 'Recognise, Assess and Treat' to explore some real-world examples of pain management.

How would you apply the RAT structure to a 51-year-old man with a two-year history of lower back pain who presents with increased pain and trouble walking after a recent fall? Or a 12-year-old girl who presents with abdominal pain that has been ongoing for a few days, but suddenly worsened the previous night? Listen to find out.

• RELATED: Managing pain in the ED: how can nurses do it better?

Find out more

Royal College of Anaesthetists: Essential Pain Management UK