1. Pain Management
It is the policy of WCMC to respect and support the patient’s right to
optimal pain assessment and management
 Pain is assessed in all patients
 Optimal management of pain enhances healing and promotes
both physical and psychological well being
 It is the responsibility of all staff members to inform patients of
their right to pain management
 Patients will have their pain assessed frequently and reassessed for
relief of pain, and have their response to treatment assessed

2. Pain Management (continued)
All patients entering this facility for admission or observation
receive:
 An initial pain assessment
 Detailed history and physical to include pain status
 Psychosocial assessment to include cultural implications
 Education on treatment of pain
 Reassessment of pain
 Discharge planning on pain management
 A thorough physical exam that documents all sites of pain

3. Pain Management (continued)
 Reassessment of pain is an ongoing process for all patients
 Patients are assessed for pain with assessments and with hourly
rounding during the day and two hour rounding at night
 If patient has a complaint of pain then patient’s pain is treated
appropriately
 After treatment the patient is reassessed for pain relief
 The patient’s vital signs are also reassessed within 30 minutes to 1
hour after medication is given and this is documented
 The patient's pain is also assessed PRN as their condition warrants
 All assessments and reassessments are charted on the
appropriate unit specific form or via the computer

4. Pain Management (continued)
 Surgery patients are reassessed every two hours post- op for
the first 24 hours
 The FLACC (Face, Legs, Activity, Cry, and Consolability) pain
scale is used on cognitively impaired patients
 The FLACC pain scale is also be used for pediatric patients
that are unable to validate or quantify the severity of their
pain
• Pain is assessed to understand how much a child is experiencing
and to understand if what is being done is working - Information is
provided to parents to help them identify the child’s pain