Gaps in Pain Management in Assisted Living

Abstract

<p>Assisted living (AL) is a growing lifestyle choice option available to the ailing aged in the United States. Increases in chronic disease may predispose this population to acute and chronic pain due to increased longevity with medical advances. The elderly populations in these facilities are frail with multiple chronic illnesses and cognitive and/or functional impairment adding to the difficulty in effective pain management practices. The burden of providing pain management in AL is on the nursing assistant whose education and scope of practice may not include performing pain assessment that impact resident quality of life and outcomes. Continuing education in pain management in AL settings may improve the ability of unlicensed staff members to provide pain management strategies to meet best practice guidelines. This project identifies nursing assistants’ knowledge of pain management after receiving education in pain management. A single group pre-post test design using the Palliative Care Quiz for Nursing (PCQN) and Frommelt’s Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD) measured the effect of a pain management educational intervention. Results support the need for pain management continuing education fro nursing assistants caring for residents in AL.</p>