Management of Your Pain

Pain can affect your quality of life. It can keep you from being active, from sleeping well, from enjoying family and friends, and from eating. Pain can also make you feel depressed. Every patient has a right to have his or her pain treated and managed while hospitalized or at home treatment. At Seton Medical Center, we consider your pain control an integral and important issue. Our team of healthcare professionals provides education about pain management and assessment to all of our patients. We know that it is of utmost importance that every patient have his or her pain treated and managed while hospitalized or at home.

Types of Pain
There are two types of pain, acute and chronic. Acute pain is caused by a health problem or injury. This type of pain usually occurs from an illness, after surgery, or an injury that needs emergency care. This pain usually ceases when the cause is treated. Chronic pain lasts at least 3-6 months and is usually caused by a health problem or injury, such as arthritis or a back injury. Chronic pain can also exist without a clear cause. At Seton Medical Center, we help our patients measure and manage their pain. Our “target comfort” goal for patients is to achieve a score of 3 or less, on a scale of 0-10. Zero is “pain free”, and 10 indicates “the worst pain possible”. Seton Medical Center maintains a proactive approach to keep patient’s pain under control by not waiting until the patient is in pain. We believe in educating our patient’s about proper assessment of their pain, and providing the best intervention possible to help control the pain. Our values demand it.

Our Staff
Seton Medical Center’s medical staff includes a dedicated and experienced interdisciplinary team of pain specialists who work closely together to meet the unique needs of each patient. Managing pain early and adequately is key to effective control and helps patients enjoy greater comfort while healing. At Seton Medical Center, our coordination of care is characterized by a strong commitment to provide quality and compassion to every patient.

Our Program
Our goal at Seton Medical Center is to assess each patient’s pain routinely. Our patient education pain management program begins when patients are admitted to either the inpatient or outpatient areas. Our team of healthcare professionals teach our patients how to communicate their level of pain and discomfort. Pain is considered the “fifth vital sign” and is routinely recorded by our medical staff, whenever patients’ vital signs are taken. Every employee is instructed and encouraged to notify the nursing staff if they believe a patient is experiencing pain. Patients have the right to appropriate assessment and management of pain, including assessment and reassessment of pain within 30-60 minutes after a completed intervention. Beyond treating pain with medications, our patients receive careful instructions from our dedicated team of physical therapists, on how to help ease the pain in other ways:

• Increasing activity, by walking short distances, and doing a little more each day
• Building strength by working certain muscles
• Building flexibility, which increases pain-free range of motion
• Moving the body safely, helping to prevent injury
• Relaxing different parts of the body through biofeedback
• Using a TENS (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation) unit to block pain messages
• Meditation
• Relaxation tapes, soothing music