A client is admitted to the hospital with intractable pain.

A client is admitted to the hospital with intractable pain.

• A. Provide reassurance and chat about daily activities
• B. Allow the patient to manage pain with their own devices only
• C. Take measures to promote as much comfort as possible
• D. Withhold any analgesia to assess baseline pain

Answer: (C)

The main idea is actively relieving persistent, severe pain to maximize the patient’s comfort. When someone has intractable pain, the goal isn’t just to “check” their pain but to reduce suffering through appropriate analgesia and comfort measures, tailored to the individual and monitored for safety and effectiveness. This means providing timely, adequate pain relief—using the right medications, dosing, and re-evaluating and adjusting as needed—along with nonpharmacologic strategies to improve comfort. Providing reassurance and casual conversation alone doesn’t address the pain and can downplay the patient’s distress. Allowing the patient to rely only on their own devices risks under-treatment or unsafe use. Withholding analgesia to “assess baseline pain” is unethical and harmful, since delaying relief subjects the patient to unnecessary suffering. The best approach is to promote as much comfort as possible through proactive pain management and supportive care, adjusting as the patient’s situation evolves.

The main idea is actively relieving persistent, severe pain to maximize the patient’s comfort. When someone has intractable pain, the goal isn’t just to “check” their pain but to reduce suffering through appropriate analgesia and comfort measures, tailored to the individual and monitored for safety and effectiveness. This means providing timely, adequate pain relief—using the right medications, dosing, and re-evaluating and adjusting as needed—along with nonpharmacologic strategies to improve comfort.

Providing reassurance and casual conversation alone doesn’t address the pain and can downplay the patient’s distress. Allowing the patient to rely only on their own devices risks under-treatment or unsafe use. Withholding analgesia to “assess baseline pain” is unethical and harmful, since delaying relief subjects the patient to unnecessary suffering. The best approach is to promote as much comfort as possible through proactive pain management and supportive care, adjusting as the patient’s situation evolves.