Learning Activities

Activity 1: Simple exercise to help students explore how standards are employed to measure subjective phenomena..

Activity 2: Ask students to use the McGill Pain Questionnaire to assess the pain with an actual patient.

Activity 3: Ask students to divide into pairs and do a general pain assessment interview.

Activity 4: Use the audio clip of the professional pain interviewer to help discuss and explore pain assessment issues.

Activity 1: Select, as an example, two students: one not wearing glasses and one wearing glasses.

1. Ask the class members if they believe that both students see at the same level of acuity?
   
   
2. How do class members know at what level of acuity the two students see?
   
   
3. How would a healthcare professional know at what level of acuity the two students see?
   
   
4. How would the driver's licensing department know if the students� level of visual acuity makes it safe for them to drive?

Note: The Snellen eye chart has been developed, tested, and is now used as a standardized tool to measure visual acuity. Pain medications, like corrective lenses, can be used to correct abnormal or unpleasant sensory and emotional experiences. Using a standardized tool to measure pain is important to nursing diagnosis and management of pain. Making pain visible by posting the pain measurement ratings helps all professionals have access to the same information and seed the variations in the patient�s pain.

Activity 2: Ask students to use the McGill Pain Questionnaire to assess the pain with an actual patient.

Potential questions:

1. What kinds of things did you do to make this pain assessment work well for you or the person you assessed?
   
   
2. What comments did the patient make about the tool?
   
   
3. What did you learn about your patient's pain by using the tool?
   
   
4. What difficulties did you encounter using the tool?
   
   
5. How would you describe your thoughts and feelings about using the tool?
   
   
6. What comments do you have about using the tool?
   
   
7. What did you learn by conducting this assessment?

Activity 3: Divide students into pairs. Ask one student to report the pain from a previous or current painful experience (play the patient role) to the other student conducting the pain assessment as a nurse. Allow 10 minutes for the assessment practice and call the class together to discuss the following questions. Focus first on the nurse experience then discuss the same questions from the patient�s perspective.

1. What kinds of things did you do to make this pain assessment work well for you or the person you assessed?
   
   
2. How would you describe your thoughts and feelings about the process?
   
   
3. What difficulties did you notice during the assessment process?
   
   
4. What comments do you have about the process?
   
   
5. What did you learn by conducting this assessment?

Play audio clips of pain specialist collecting sensory pain data from a young man. Ask students to discuss the following questions in class or in a written essay.

Audio: Pain interview

(18 min.)

1. How did the use of the pain assessment questionnaire facilitate or hinder data collection about Mr. Jones� pain?
   
   
2. Why did the provider introduce the pain questionnaire to Mr. Jones prior to beginning the questions?
   
   
3. What aspects of Mr. Jones� pain did use of the questionnaire allow the provider to understand?
   
   
4. What aspects of Mr. Jones� pain did use of the questionnaire not allow the provider to understand?
   
   
5. What is your judgement about the type of pain experienced by Mr. Jones?
   
   
6. What information would you document and communicate Mr. Jones� pain?
   
   
7. What is the likely etiology of Mr. Jones� pain?
   
   
8. What additional therapies might be effective for Mr. Jones� pain?
   
   
9. What approaches used by the pain specialist would you like to emulate?
   
   
10. Are there any ways you would modify your approach to the pain assessment that would make it more specifically, fit your individual style?