‘Pain champions’ in nursing homes spur better adoption of guidelines: study … State leaders gut proposed visitation law before passing it … Legal scholars want investigation into investigator of nursing home COVID-19 mishandling … OIG: States failing to report key Medicaid managed care payment information … CMS tells MACs to hold claims dated after 3/31 to avoid reprocessing as they await final sequestration action.
Nursing home care providers were able to more smoothly adopt evidence-based pain management guidelines when they had the support of specially trained registered nurses, a study in Sweden has found.
“Pain is whatever the experiencing person says it is.” “We just hope that you don’t say it. Oh, and we’ll likely not hear you anyway.” We credit Mary Margo McCaffery, MS, RN-BC, FAAN, a pioneer in the field of pain management, for the first phrase; I credit our healthcare system and the prevailing opioid crisis…
An evidence-based model of therapy increased participant engagement in their own care, resulting in better mobility, decreased pain and improved quality of life, the lead therapist said.
Among four drugs commonly used to treat unexplained neuropathic pain in seniors, two stand out as the most effective and least likely to be discontinued, physician researchers report.
Many chronic pain patients avoid physical activities that they are actually capable of doing, researchers have found. Changing thought patterns may help halt a downward pain spiral, they say.
For the first time in 40 years, a global authority has revised its clinical definition of pain, recognizing those who can’t describe their experience verbally.
Clinicians may be prescribing the drugs as an opioid alternative for chronic pain management, propose the researchers. Opioids are often prescribed simultaneously, they found.
Treatment should start with low-risk, non-invasive strategies and slowly introduce pain medications, including opioids as needed, say Mayo Clinic geriatricians.
A prescription-strength nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory gel for arthritis is the first of its kind to be approved for over-the-counter use in the United States.
