The role of the nurse in managing pain by psychological approaches essay

Pain management is one of the core competencies of a nurse (Devinder & Upton, 2013). A licensed nurse should ensure that the patient receives appropriate care and provide an efficient intervention aimed at treating the patient’s pain and consistent with the recognized standards of nursing care. Nurses should possess knowledge about different methods of managing pain, should be able to distinguish between different categories of pain and sources of pain, and should be skilled in pharmacological, physiological and psychological techniques of pain management.

The patients ask for nursing help when they experience pain, especially acute pain, so the nurses should be able to address the patients’ needs and combine various approaches to managing pain in order to relieve suffering and enhance the process of healing for the patient. It is essential for any nurse to possess skills of managing pain using psychological approaches. These approaches are efficient when the patient on some reasons cannot use pharmacotherapy; psychological approaches of managing pain are invaluable for treating acute pain and stabilizing the patient’s psychological condition (Devinder & Upton, 2013). Furthermore, nurses should be able to develop programs of pain management for patients with chronic pain. Therefore, nurses play a key role in managing pain with the help of psychological approaches.