At 05:18 PM 2/9/01 -0600, you wrote:
>On 9 Feb 2001, at 11:38, Helen Dynda wrote:
>
>> "Research clearly shows that unrelieved pain can slow recovery, create
>> burdens for patients and their families, and increase costs to the health
>> care system."
>
>When I was in the hospital there were posters up for "Pain -- the
>other vital sign." There is a great deal of activity in hospitals and
>nursing practice around assessing pain just as temperature, pulse,
>and blood pressure are taken.
>
>Last winter I attended a conference for people working with cancer
>patients and heard an excellent discussion of pain by an ER
>physician and a anesthesiologist. Both were adamant that the
>patient's perception of pain was the only way to assess it.
>Anesthesiologists have become central in developing pain control
>methods.
>
>As I read the messages on this list each day, I become more and
>more convinced that the first step to managing pain is simply to
>have it acknowledged. When we perceive that our doctors don't
>believe we have pain, we are frightened, discouraged, and hopeless.
>
>I usually assess my pain on a scale of 1 to 10 where ten is
>unbearable. It really helps to realize that the pain does vary with
>what I eat and how tired I am.
>
>Kate
>Kate Murphy
>katemm@mindspring.com
>