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Pain description by nurses and physicians.

K T Norvell, F Gaston-Johansson, L Zimmerman

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management

|February 1, 1990

Summary

Nurses and physicians share a common understanding of pain language. Both groups used similar terms and ratings to describe pain experiences, indicating consistent communication in healthcare settings.

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Area of Science:

Medical terminology
Clinical communication
Pain perception

Background:

Effective communication is crucial in healthcare.
Understanding shared language for pain experiences is vital for accurate patient assessment and treatment.
Previous research has not extensively explored the semantic overlap in pain descriptors between nurses and physicians.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether nurses and physicians select similar terminology to describe pain.
To compare how nurses and physicians rate common pain-related terms.
To assess the degree of shared understanding in pain language between these two professional groups.

Main Methods:

Utilized the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to rate terms like 'ache,' 'hurt,' and 'pain.'
Employed the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) for subjects to select descriptive words for pain experiences.
Sample included 37 registered nurses and 21 physicians.

Main Results:

No significant differences were found between nurses and physicians in their mean VAS ratings for pain terms.
Both groups selected highly similar word descriptors from the MPQ to differentiate between 'ache,' 'hurt,' and 'pain.'

Conclusions:

Nurses and physicians demonstrate a common understanding of the language used to describe pain.
This shared semantic framework likely facilitates effective clinical communication and patient care regarding pain management.

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