Use of Goals in Cancer Pain Management: A Systematic Review.

Context: Cancer pain is multidimensional and management should be individualized to patient goals. The current standard for pain goal assessment is the personal pain goal (PPG), a numeric rating for tolerable pain intensity. However, the PPG may not accurately capture a personally meaningful goal for tailoring pain management.

Mitigation of Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea Using Adjunct Music Listening: A Pilot Study.

The persistence of chemotherapy-induced nausea (CIN) underscores the need to consider nonpharmacologic treatments such as music listening as adjunct interventions. This pilot study investigated the feasibility and overall effects of a 30-minute adjunct music listening intervention in 12 patients experiencing CIN. Music listening was started at the time participants took their as-needed antiemetic medication, and it was repeated as needed during the 5 days after chemotherapy.

Characteristics of faculty mentoring in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Future of Nursing Scholars Program.

Background: To address the need for faculty scientists, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) provided support for an accelerated PhD program: Future of Nursing Scholars (FNS).

Purpose: To describe the experience of faculty mentoring PhD students in the RWJF FNS program pursuing a 3-year accelerated PhD degree, including faculty members' support activities for students, time commitment, student productivity in manuscript dissemination, and challenges and opportunities for supporting students.

Methods: Surveys were sent to faculty mentors of FNS to understand mentoring activities, strategies used, and mentee productivity.

Patient Goals in Hospice Cancer Pain Management: A Total Pain Case Scenario.

Evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and hospice agency policies and procedures direct nursing assessment and interventions for the care of persons with cancer-related pain. Guidelines assert that pain should be assessed from a holistic perspective that considers physical, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects. In addition, guidelines maintain that hospice nurses should ascertain patient goals for pain management.

A Comparison of the Pain Assessment Checklist for Seniors with Limited Ability to Communicate (PACSLAC) and Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia Scale (PAINAD).

Background: There is currently no gold standard instrument for assessing pain in severely cognitively impaired adults who are unable to provide self-report.

Aims: To determine interrater reliability of the PACSLAC and PAINAD in assessing pain behaviors in patients with the same pain stimulus, determine the consistency of the reliable changes between and within the instruments and assess nurse preference for either instrument.

Design: A single-group, within-subjects repeated-measures design was implemented.

Both Race and Insurance Type Independently Predict the Selection of Oral Opioids Prescribed to Cancer Outpatients.

Background: Previous research suggests that racial disparities in patients' reported analgesic adverse effects are partially mediated by the type of opioid prescribed to African Americans despite the presence of certain comorbidities, such as renal disease.

Aims: We aimed to identify independent predictors of the type of opioid prescribed to cancer outpatients and determine if race and chronic kidney disease independently predict prescription type, adjusting for relevant sociodemographic and clinical confounders.

Design: We conducted a secondary analysis of a 3-month observational study.

Modifiable pathways from pain to functional status: Confirmatory baseline results from a randomised trial of African American patients with cancer pain.

Objective: This study tested a model of cancer-related pain and functional status in African American patients, including beliefs about the ability to control pain as a key determinant of distress and functional status.

Methods: Baseline data from a randomised clinical trial consisting of clinical and patient-reported outcomes were used. Participants were 228 African American patients experiencing moderate to severe pain within the past 2 weeks.

Analysis of Patient-Provider Interactions Regarding the Burden and Treatment of Opioid-Induced Constipation in Adults with Chronic Noncancer Pain.

Objective: This analysis of patient-health care provider discussions of opioid-induced constipation (OIC) evaluated the dynamics of interactions, identified communication gaps, and assessed the functional burden of opioid-induced constipation on patients' lives.

Design: Retrospective analysis of a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant database of >120,000 patient-provider conversations.

Setting: Outpatient offices in the United States.

Patient-related attitudinal barriers to cancer pain management among adult Jordanian patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the attitudinal barriers to cancer pain management among adult Jordanian patients and to explore relationships between attitudinal barriers, pain, and demographic variables.

Methods: In this descriptive correlational study a convenience sample of 150 Jordanian adults with cancer pain were recruited from the outpatient cancer clinic at a regional comprehensive cancer center in Jordan. Patients completed the Arabic version of Barriers Questionnaire (ABQ-II), the Arabic version of Brief-Pain-Inventory (ABPI), and demographic questions.

Experiences of Urban African Americans with Cancer Pain.

The experience of cancer pain is poorly understood from the perspective of African Americans, who experience higher levels of pain, more pain-related distress, and poorer function than Caucasians. Decreased perceived control over pain may play a greater role for African American patients, affecting pain-related distress and function. The purpose of this study was to add to the understanding of cancer pain and perceived control over pain in African Americans, from the patients' perspective.

Neighborhood, Socioeconomic, and Racial Influence on Chronic Pain.

The purpose of this review is to highlight the neighborhood, socioeconomic, and racial influences on chronic pain. Negative influences on the experience of chronic pain are explored and defined as any adverse stressor common in low socioeconomic, urban neighborhoods that potentially contributes to health disparity in African Americans experiencing chronic pain. The multifactorial influences on chronic pain disparity in African Americans are explored and expounded upon in this review of existing evidence.

Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting Mitigation With Music Interventions .

Problem Identification: Despite three decades of studies examining music interventions as a mitigant of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), to date, no systematic review of this literature exists.
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Literature Search: PubMed, Scopus, PsycInfo®, CINAHL®, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar were searched.

Pain Treatment Practices of Community-Dwelling Black Older Adults.

Black older adults often experience disparities in pain treatment that results in unmet pain needs. The aims of this study were to assess the pain management experiences of a group of community dwelling Black older adults and identify gaps in clinical practice. A qualitative, descriptive design was employed using the methodology of ethnography.

Multimodal Analgesia for Acute Postoperative and Trauma-Related Pain.

: Multimodal analgesia, which combines analgesic drugs from different classes and employs analgesic techniques that target different mechanisms of pain, is recommended in the treatment of acute postoperative and trauma-related pain because its synergistic effect maximizes pain relief at lower analgesic doses, thereby reducing the risk of adverse drug effects. Using a case-based approach, this article reviews various multimodal analgesic therapies used in the treatment of acute pain; discusses their benefits; and summarizes findings from related research, recommendations from evidence-based practice guidelines, and expert consensus reports.

Assessing and Managing Acute Pain: A Call to Action.

: Acute pain, which is usually sudden in onset and time limited, serves a biological protective function, warning the body of impending danger. However, while acute pain often resolves over time with normal healing, unrelieved acute pain can disrupt activities of daily living and transition to chronic pain. This article describes the effects of unrelieved acute pain on patients and clinical outcomes.

Cancer as a Platform for Genetics Education in the Undergraduate Nursing Curriculum.

Background: Nursing leaders and governing agencies have long requested more genetic content in the undergraduate nursing curriculum. Despite this, evidence in the literature detailing how to meet this objective is scarce.

Method: Using a familiar health condition such as cancer, undergraduate nursing students are introduced to the multiple genetic abnormalities that underlie the cellular dysregulation leading to carcinogenesis.

Pain management strategies and lessons from the military: A narrative review.

Background: Wounded soldiers often experience substantial pain, which must be addressed before returning to active duty or civilian life. The United States (US) military has instituted several guidelines and initiatives aimed at improving pain management by providing rapid access to medical care, and developing interdisciplinary multimodal pain management strategies based on outcomes observed both in combat and hospital settings.

Objective: To provide a narrative review regarding US military pain management guidelines and initiatives, which may guide improvements in pain management, particularly chronic pain management and prevention, for the general population.

The Perceived Control Over Pain Construct and Functional Status.

Introduction: Belief in one's ability to control pain is a significant predictor of health outcomes and is related to improved functional status. The purpose of this study was to introduce a novel formulation of the construct, Perceived Control Over Pain and to test its effects on functional status.

Methods: Participants (N = 301) were primarily African American (92%); and were adults with low income attending a primary care clinic and reporting pain within the past 2 weeks.

Challenges to Recruitment of Urban African American Patients with Cancer Pain.

There are many assumptions about recruitment of African Americans to cancer studies. The population is often characterized as older, low income, with limited education, scarce resources, and distrust of the health care system. Support systems for African Americans are reported to be centered on family and church communities.

The prevalence of pain and its association with psychosocial factors for indigent adults enrolled in a primary care clinic.

Objectives: Pain is a symptom reported in 50% to 70% of primary care visits and negatively impacts both physical and psychological functioning. People at risk of receiving inadequate management of pain include the indigent and people of color. The purpose of this exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional study was to describe the prevalence of pain and its relation to functional status, depressive symptoms, perception of control over pain and coping in an urban, primary care clinic for indigent adults.

Self-treatment of pain among adolescents in an urban community.

Pain occurrence among adolescents, whether acute or chronic, persistent or intermittent, remains high, with potentially serious effects on quality of life, physical and emotional functioning, and psychosocial adjustment. The prevalence of pain in adolescents varies widely, and although discussed in the literature for more than two decades, data on adolescent knowledge and pain self-treatment is scarce. This descriptive-correlational study identified pain prevalence and intensity and pain self-treatment choices among adolescents in a diverse urban community.

Advancing a national agenda to eliminate disparities in pain care: directions for health policy, education, practice, and research.

Background: Pain is strongly associated with significant personal and societal costs. A crucial element of any initiative on pain must focus on eliminating pain care disparities that are pervasive throughout the United States health care settings.

Objectives: This report focuses on macro-level factors related to pain care disparities in the United States that may be amenable to policy interventions.

Nondrug therapies for pain management among rural older adults.

This quasiexperimental two-group pilot study tested an intervention aimed at educating older adults in rural communities about the appropriate use of nondrug treatments for pain. Earlier data reveal that older adults use significantly less nonpharmacologic modalities than their younger counterparts, and that pain self-treatment is prevalent in rural areas. Individuals aged ≥60 years who experienced pain in the preceding 2 weeks were recruited from rural Midwestern communities through the use of flyers and information sessions at hospitals, churches, and community organizations.

Nursing's role in cancer pain management.

Nurses have advanced practice, research, and education in the field of cancer pain management. This paper highlights the contributions nurses have made to pain science and practice through literature published in the past 3 years. Work accomplished by nurses is examined in the areas of pain assessment, pain management, intervention-based research, evidence-based practice, patient education, and palliative care.