Pain Among Older Adults

At old age, many people are at the risk of experiencing pain in different parts of their bodies. Nurses and other medical practitioners may be tasked to detect aches, pains, and discomfort before providing treatment and appropriate prescriptions. Some of the tools nurses can use to detect pain in older adult patients include the Numerical Rating Scale and the Verbal Rating Scale. Unfortunately, many old individuals in pain are not able to effectively report their symptoms due to different barriers.

The Numerical Rating Scale is an effective nursing tool where the patient is asked to circle numbers to show pain intensity. The lowest numbers indicate little or no pain while the high numbers on the scale indicate the patient is experiencing severe pain (Booker & Herr, 2019). It helps nurses understand the intensity of pain suffered by an old patient.

The Verbal Rating Scale is also used to determine pain in older adults. The scale uses words to describe pain levels. The patient marks the word that correctly describes the kind of pain he or she is experiencing (Booker & Herr, 2019). It is an effective method of pain determination for nurses.

Older people face problems that often discourage them from self-reporting in the event of experiencing pain. The patients may have economic problems that may hinder them from reporting fearing that further diagnosis and treatment could cost them monetary resources (Booker & Herr, 2019). Another barrier is lack of proper medical education and awareness thereby making them ignore certain pain signs and symptoms that could be detrimental to their health in the future.