Nurses working with clients in pain need to recognize and avoid common

Nurses working with clients in pain need to recognize and avoid common misconceptions and myths about pain. In regard to the pain experience, which of the following is correct?

1. The client is the best authority on the pain experience.
2. Chronic pain is mostly psychological in nature.
3. Regular use of analgesics leads to drug addiction.
4. The amount of tissue damage is accurately reflected in the degree of pain per-ceived.

ANSWER

ANS: 1
A client’s self-report of pain is the single most reliable indicator of the existence and intensity of pain and any related discomfort. Pain is individualistic. A misconception about pain is that chronic pain is psychological. The belief that administering analgesics regularly will lead to drug addiction is a misconception. Another misconception about pain is that the amount of tissue damage is accurately reflected in the degree of pain perceived.