Management of procedural pain: empowering nurses to care for patients through clinical nurse specialist consultation and intervention.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the incidence of pain in inpatient and outpatient populations experiencing invasive procedures.

Background: Nursing staff consulted the clinical nurse specialist regarding a patient they assessed who was not medicated appropriately and experienced significant procedural pain. As a result, a Procedural Pain Task Force was created to research the incidence of procedural pain and create evidence-based practice protocols.