Reference no: EM133343748

Regarding the concept of pain, patients can experience both acute and chronic pain and nurses play an important role in the management of their pain. Each patient's pain experience is unique and can be influenced by age, culture, race, spirituality, and other individual aspects and past experiences (Lilley et al., 2019). Knowing what questions to ask about pain as well as the pharmacokinetics of each pain medication can ensure safe administration. There are several mnemonics to help you remember what questions to ask. PQRST or SOCRATES are two of the most common (Briggs, 2010, p. 37). It is also important to remember that non-pharmacologic treatments also exist.

Opioid analgesics are one type of pain medication that acute care nurses administer on a regular basis. Besides having the potential for addiction, these medications also can have unwanted side effects mostly due to their effect on the central nervous system, particularly respiratory depression. Nurses must be aware that patients with respiratory conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or sleep apnea, can be predisposed to respiratory depression (Lilley et al., 2019). Naloxone, an opioid antagonist, can reverse the respiratory depression caused by an opioid drug and is in fact used in the management of opioid overdose (Lilley et al., 2019).