Nursing Methods in Assessing Pain of Mentally Impaired Patients : a descriptive literature review
Corpuz, Cyriel; Mendoza, Desiree Marie; Otic-Tabangay, Pia (2025)
2025
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025060621361
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025060621361
Tiivistelmä
The purpose of this study was to describe nursing methods of assessing the pain of patients with mental impairment. This study aimed to produce new knowledge to be utilized by nurses in assessing the pain of mentally impaired patients.
The study used data gathered from fifteen eligible articles and were analyzed using inductive content analysis; reduction, clustering, and groupings of data were followed respectively. The information gathering was guided by two research questions that were answered throughout the study namely: What are the nursing methods of assessing pain in mentally impaired patients? How does mental impairment affect the pain assessment method.
The findings on this study identified five nursing methods that were used in assessing pain in mentally impaired patients: physiological assessment, assessments by informants, assessment by observing behavior, contextual and multidisciplinary assessment, and self reporting. The variables that affect pain include communication barriers, neuropsychiatric influences, symptoms complexity and assessment difficulty, and health related challenges.
The study emphasized that pain assessment in patients with mental impairment was difficult work, it needed more than pain assessment tools. It demanded understanding individually, multidisciplinary collaboration, and clinical contextual judgement. Crucial alternatives were input from informants and observation of behaviors, and the accuracy of these methods relied mainly on the nurse´s understanding of their patients.
This study concluded that mental impairment affected pain assessment results and needed customized methods. Evidence based strategies and continuous learning were necessary for accurate and patient centered pain assessment.
The study used data gathered from fifteen eligible articles and were analyzed using inductive content analysis; reduction, clustering, and groupings of data were followed respectively. The information gathering was guided by two research questions that were answered throughout the study namely: What are the nursing methods of assessing pain in mentally impaired patients? How does mental impairment affect the pain assessment method.
The findings on this study identified five nursing methods that were used in assessing pain in mentally impaired patients: physiological assessment, assessments by informants, assessment by observing behavior, contextual and multidisciplinary assessment, and self reporting. The variables that affect pain include communication barriers, neuropsychiatric influences, symptoms complexity and assessment difficulty, and health related challenges.
The study emphasized that pain assessment in patients with mental impairment was difficult work, it needed more than pain assessment tools. It demanded understanding individually, multidisciplinary collaboration, and clinical contextual judgement. Crucial alternatives were input from informants and observation of behaviors, and the accuracy of these methods relied mainly on the nurse´s understanding of their patients.
This study concluded that mental impairment affected pain assessment results and needed customized methods. Evidence based strategies and continuous learning were necessary for accurate and patient centered pain assessment.