Acute pain and the critically ill trauma patient

Pain is a frequent experience throughout our lifetime, and each person responds in a different manner to every pain experience. Critically ill trauma patients are obviously more likely to experience pain due to their injuries or iatrogenic causes. To optimize pain management for trauma patients, critical care nurses must continually be aware of the potential for pain. However, pain assessment for critically ill patients is usually complicated by their inability to express the subjective component of their pain experience. Understanding the pathophysiology of pain facilitates the assessment of the objective components of pain. It is imperative for the critical care nurse to function as the patient advocate especially regarding pain management issues.