Dealing with pain in patients with cancer is a major issue when it comes to health care. The article "Assessment and Management of Patients with Cancer Pain" aims to address issues dealing with cancer pain (Chapman, 2011). The articles provide nurses with information on types and causes of pain, ways for assessment, management strategies and incidence. More specifically this article may help me as a nurse provide care and apply given information to my own practice because it describes the differences in causes of cancer pain. Accounts the various types of assessment tools applicable and summarizes obstacles to pain assessment. Characterizes several approaches to cancer pain. Finally, it defines ways of pain management via alternative medicine.
The article states that pain can appear in cancer patients at any stage of the disease. Pain can occur in patients while undergoing treatment, after treatment, during the terminal phase, and/or before treatment. Pain management is important because "uncontrolled pain reduces the quality of life-persistent pain interfers with activates of daily living and social interactions. Pain can also affect mood and psychological functioning" (Foley, 2011). .
Within the article "Assessment and Management of Patients with Cancer Pain" the first step is managing a patient's pain is pain diagnosis. Pain diagnoses are generated by identifying the cause and type of pain. Types include acute and chronic pain. Causes include nociceptive and neuropathic. Nociceptive is either somatic or visceral, pain caused by the activation of a typical pain pathway and is a protective function. Neuropathic pain is caused by the activation of an atypical pain pathway aroused from damage or malfunction in the nervous system. As a result of the dysfunction, differences can occur in how pain signals are handled in the nervous system, resulting in increased activity and/or transmission of pain.
