Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario's (RNAO) Best Practice Guideline on Pain

A fourth edition best practice guideline (BPG), Pain: Prevention, Assessment, and Management, was published in February 2025. This updated guideline offers three evidence-based recommendations for nurses and other health providers to effectively prevent, assess and manage pain for individuals across the lifespan. A summary of the guideline is presented.

The BPG team in collaboration with a panel of experts developed five good practice statements and conducted two systematic reviews to address three recommendation questions. The Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was used to evaluate the quality of evidence, ensuring the guideline aligns with international reporting standards. This article summarizes the guideline development process and provides a high-level overview of the guideline content.

The BPG features three recommendations and five good practice statements. Summaries of the systematic review findings and supporting literature for the good practice statements are provided.

The guideline highlights implementation and evaluation strategies, health equity considerations and future research priorities with respect to the recommendations and good practice statements. This BPG serves as a valuable resource for academic institutions, health service organizations and health providers to support effective pain prevention, assessment and management for individuals experiencing pain.