Rating Dyspnea and Pain: "No" is Not Always "Zero".

Nurses routinely assess pain in hospitalized patients; similar assessment of dyspnea is increasing. Most nurses start with a yes-no question when assessing pain or dyspnea; many record "no" as a zero rating, skipping the rating scale. We tested the hypothesis that recording "no" answers as "zero" fails to detect the symptoms that would have been detected with a rating scale.

Association of dyspnoea, mortality and resource use in hospitalised patients.

As many as one in 10 patients experience dyspnoea at hospital admission but the relationship between dyspnoea and patient outcomes is unknown. We sought to determine whether dyspnoea on admission predicts outcomes.We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a single, academic medical centre.

Air Hunger: A Primal Sensation and a Primary Element of Dyspnea.

The sensation that develops as a long breath hold continues is what this article is about. We term this sensation of an urge to breathe "air hunger." Air hunger, a primal sensation, alerts us to a failure to meet an urgent homeostatic need maintaining gas exchange.