Conquering Pain

Context

Pain induced by treatment, called “iatrogenic pain”, is often the most underestimated type of pain. It is a source of unease, stress, and frustration for support staff and it influences whether potentially painful actions are performed. Iatrogenic pain significantly impacts a patient’s hospital stay, and it has effects later on as well. Furthermore, the agitated or confused state that is common among patients in intensive care is often due to poorly controlled pain. These agitated states can lead to patients accidentally pulling out breathing tubes, catheters, or feeding tubes, or injuring themselves by falling out of bed, for example, so they are also a source of additional work and stress for support staff.

Project

This project is based on a one-year mobilization and training of a team of “pain reporters” within the intensive care division; this team will help the support staff to better prevent and more effectively treat their patients’ pain.

It entails training the team of physicians and support staff to precisely and systematically evaluate and document pain. It also includes teaching techniques for preventing treatment-induced pain using both pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical (conversational hypnosis, therapeutic massage, EMONO) approaches. Finally, the project involves assisting the team of physicians and support staff in establishing a “pain alarm” process aimed at a rapid and systematic response to refractory pain.

project manager

Ms. Valérie Nocquet Boyer, Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Intensive Care, Geneva University Hospitals
Professor Jérôme Pugin, Intensive Care Division, Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology, and Intensive Care, Geneva University Hospitals.