The study is a longitudinal review of pain management claims filed in the state of Maryland. Adverse outcomes associated with pain-related claims are often severe and include death, brain damage, and back and spinal cord sequelae. There is a lot to be learned from past experiences, identified in closed pain management claims, specifically on how to improve patient education, outcomes, quality, and safety.

This article examines the pivotal role of critical care nurses in managing pediatric pain, emphasizing the multifaceted nature of care. It covers the challenges and opportunities nurses face, stressing the importance of education and training. The background section underscores the global issue of inadequately managed pediatric pain and the importance of addressing social determinants of health while recognizing perceptions, beliefs, stereotypes, and biases on pain management. A multimodal approach in treatment is detailed in pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic approaches. Barriers nurses encounter are discussed, with recommendations for a holistic and individualized approach to pediatric pain management in critical care settings.

Circumcision is a painful procedure that may be performed on newborns. Pain management is provided through pharmacologic and nonpharmacological methods such as administration of anesthetics, analgesia, nutritive sucking, music, and touch during and post procedure. Pain scales may be used to assess physiologic and behavioral changes in the newborn as part of the pain management process. The role of the nurse includes assisting the provider with pain management, assessing newborn pain, and teaching the family how to care and comfort the newborn post circumcision.

Nurses practicing in critical care units manage all forms of traumatic, acute, and chronic pain. Chronic pain must be managed in critical care scenarios to facilitate patient comfort and eventual recovery and healing. Patients with orthopedic injuries and conditions have distinct care needs that require specialized knowledge on the provider's part. Critical care nurses manage orthopedic traumatic injuries while simultaneously managing underlying acute orthopedic conditions. Pain experiences are individual to the person experiencing pain. The Internet is a rich source for pain-management materials that the critical care nurse should have in their resource repertoire.

For centuries, pharmacologic interventions have been the primary intervention for pain in intensive care patients. Opioid use has significant side effects and long-term risks including addiction and loss of life. Critical care nurses and other health care professionals can include effective nonpharmacological complementary modalities to reduce pain. Approaches discussed include guided imagery, acupuncture, music and sound therapy, cold therapy, massage, and physical and occupational therapy. Evidence-based research that examined the efficacy of these complementary methods found significant reduction in pain, trauma, length of stay, or post-intensive care syndrome in critical care patients.

The primary objective of this article is to share effective strategies for integrating patients and their families into the critical care setting. Additionally, it aims to address lack of pain management knowledge, burnout syndrome, and stress management tactics tailored for practicing critical care registered nurses.

Nurses have an ethical responsibility to manage pain and the suffering derived from it. Given the complexity of patients in the critical care setting and the high incidence of pain experienced by critically ill patients, critical care nurses may experience moral distress when pain is inadequately managed. To address moral distress associated with pain management, critical care nurses should be provided with education on evidence-based pain management practices and encouraged to evaluate their personal biases and beliefs regarding pain management. Furthermore, organizations should consider the implementation of programs to address moral distress stemming from pain management and other precipitating factors.

Pain experienced by mechanically ventilated patients in intensive care units (ICUs) is often overlooked, but it is a significant issue. With over 5 million annual ICU admissions in the United States, the prevalence of pain during hospitalization and its aftermath is a pressing concern. Chronic pain in ICU survivors has been linked to post-traumatic stress disorder, poor quality of life, and long-term impairments known as postintensive care syndrome. Barriers to effective pain management include psychological factors, sedation restrictions, and inadequate use of valid assessment tools.

Hip fractures in women are a serious health concern, demanding prompt treatment and pain control methods. This study examines fracture frequency, diagnostic techniques, and classification, focusing on femoral neck and intertrochanteric fractures. It discusses risk factors including age, gender, bone strength, and medication and their impact on fracture risk. Treatments range from noninvasive care to surgeries such as internal fixation and joint replacement. Perioperative measures such as anesthesia, antibiotics, and clot prevention to improve outcomes and lessen complications are also discussed. Postsurgery care emphasizes pain relief strategies, including opioids, nerve blocks, and modern methods such as real-time messaging for pain control.

Chronic pain is a devastating condition that impacts more than 50 million adults nationwide. It can lead to chronic opioid addiction, reduced quality of life, economic collapse, divorce, homelessness, and suicide. Chronic pain associated with surgical interventions is a common, but often misunderstood and misdiagnosed condition. Understanding chronic pain and the physical, psychological, and psychosocial links to chronic postsurgical pain can help nurses identify, prevent, or better treat the condition.

Palliative care has evolved from its religious and historical roots to a specialized medical discipline, emphasizing quality of life for patients with serious illnesses. The foundational work of pioneers in palliative care has shaped modern practices in symptom management, emotional support, and holistic care. Despite challenges in integrating palliative care in critical care settings and overcoming barriers such as limited provider availability, enhancing training and broadening the application of palliative principles remain essential. Palliative care is crucial, not just for end-of-life scenarios, but for managing severe illness at any stage, ensuring compassionate, patient-centered care.

Managing pain, whether acute or chronic, has taken a whole new look during the past 3 decades. Pain management continues to be a long-standing public health concern. The ongoing opioid epidemic has changed how the term pain is not only treated but viewed throughout all lenses of society. The following content will focus on pain management of clients aged 18 years or older with acute and/or chronic pain in the outpatient setting. As advocates and gatekeepers, primary care providers must have knowledge of evidence-based guidelines and recommendations of pain management to provide the competent, holistic care and education clients deserve.

Around 51.6 million adults are living with chronic pain that has been linked to mental health disorders, substance use, and suicidal ideation. The high incidence of chronic pain poses a challenge for health care educators to ensure that health care professionals receive training to assess, prevent, and manage chronic pain for a diverse patient population. While simulation-based learning is known as an effective educational strategy, little is known about its use to illustrate pain. This review aims to determine the current evidence related to using simulation-based learning for training and teaching the assessment and management of pain in nursing.

Health equity exists when everyone has an equal opportunity to achieve their highest level of health. Effective communication is essential to ensure a therapeutic relationship. Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) experience communication barriers, leading to poorer outcomes. Federal regulation requires hospitals to provide medically trained interpreters; however, this does not always occur. We identified 3 broad areas of research: communication barriers, outcomes, and costs. Findings highlight the challenges patients with LEP face in the health-care system, and the need for targeted interventions to enhance language access, improve cultural competence among health-care professionals, and ensure equitable outcomes for all.

Nursing documentation is essential to communicate patient care delivery. This review explores available evidence on the contribution of nursing documentation toward quality care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nine articles were evaluated for at least one of the 6 factors of quality (eg, safe, timely, equitable, patient-centered, effective, and efficient). Analysis suggests that right-sizing documentation for optimal care quality requires continued efforts to reinforce the value and need of nursing documentation as a primary data source. Continued practice and research efforts are needed to reframe nursing documentation's essential role in benefiting a patient's current and future health care needs.

During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, crisis changes in clinical care increased rates of delirium in the intensive care unit (ICU). Deep sedation, unfamiliar environments with visitor restrictions, and such factors due to high workload and health system strain contributed to the occurrence of delirium doubling in the ICU. As the pandemic wanes, health care systems and ICU leadership must emphasize post-pandemic recovery, integrating lessons learned about delirium management, evidence-based care, and family involvement. Strategies to empower clinicians, creatively deliver care, and integrate families pave the way forward for a more holistic approach to patient care in the post-pandemic era.

Critical care areas saw an unprecedented number of patients throughout the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Unfortunately, many of these patients continue to experience lingering symptoms long after their discharge from the intensive care unit, related to post-intensive care syndrome and/or post-acute sequelae of COVID-19. Nurses should be aware of these often invisible illnesses and attentive to the fact that this patient population requires ongoing support via multidisciplinary, coordinated care.

This article examines the multifaceted impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on nursing education, with a focus on implications for critical care. Issues including the rapid transition to remote learning, stress and burnout, disengagement, challenges in clinical education, ethical dilemmas, and the influence of workforce dynamics on nursing education are discussed. The article explores challenges, opportunities, and the invaluable lessons learned from this unprecedented crisis. Understanding the evolving dynamics is essential for nursing education and practice, offering a pathway toward a more resilient and promising future for both individuals and the nursing profession as a whole.

Health care delivery science, according to Faerber, "focuses on ways to improve health and services to individuals and populations." The triple aim, described as improving population health, enhancing the care experience, and reducing costs; is a model for health care improvement. In 2014, the triple aim expanded to the quadruple aim to include the health and satisfaction of health care professionals.