Managing Acute Pain in Critically Ill Non-communicative Palliative Care Patients

The purpose of this project is to test an innovative method for managing pain in acutely ill hospitalized patients who are not able to report their pain verbally to health care professionals. Nurses will use a Pain Assessment and Intervention for the Non-communicative (PAIN) Algorithm to guide assessment of pain, selection of pain medications, and management of medication side effects. The researchers will evaluate whether patients who are managed with the PAIN Algorithm have less severe pain and increased use of pharmacologic pain management strategies than those who are not managed with the PAIN Algorithm. The study design is a non-randomized quasi-experimental cohort design with two cohorts who will be sequentially studied. In phase 1, patients will comprise the usual care group (UCG), or control cohort, defined as receiving pain assessment and management practices that nurses are currently performing on the study units. In phase 2 the PAIN Algorithm coupled with analgesic order sets will be introduced to nurses and physicians on all participating units as the intervention. Patients enrolled in this phase will be considered the intervention group (IG), also called the experimental cohort. Nurses will be enrolled from the participating inpatient units to provide data on the clinical utility of the PAIN Algorithm