Pain Assessment Mnemonic: OPQRST
Importance of Comprehensive Pain Assessment
- Simply asking "Are you in pain?" or using a numeric scale can be insufficient.
- Understanding specifics about pain helps in treating it appropriately and identifying new developments.
- Patients might not always communicate when their pain changes.
- Caregivers need to ask appropriate and specific questions.
Mnemonic: OPQRST
- O: Onset
- When did the pain start?
- Is it new, ongoing for hours, or a chronic issue?
- P: Provoked
- What triggered the pain?
- Did an activity, like getting up, initiate the pain?
- Could be spontaneous without any obvious cause.
- Q: Quality
- Describes the character or nature of the pain.
- Is it dull, sharp, aching, burning, etc.?
- Crucial for understanding conditions like chest pain.
- R: Region/Radiation
- Where is the pain located?
- Does it radiate from one area to another?
- Important to pinpoint the exact location.
- S: Signs, Severity, and Symptoms
- How severe is the pain (e.g., 8/10 on pain scale)?
- Is it causing other symptoms like nausea or anxiety?
- Did any signs precede the pain worsening?
- T: Time of Onset, Duration, and Intensity
- When exactly did the pain begin?
- Is it chronic or acute?
- Does the pain fluctuate in intensity?
Application for Nurses
- Using the OPQRST framework ensures a thorough assessment.
- Helps in setting realistic treatment goals, especially for chronic pain.
Additional Resources
This lecture was part of the Nursing Mnemonics Podcast hosted by Katie Kleber, RN, CCRN.