Nursing in the Attention of the Evaluation of Pain as a 5th Vital Sign

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to identify the view of nurses in the application of the pain scale in patients hospitalized in intensive care and medical clinic. Method: An exploratory-descriptive study was conducted with a qualitative approach in a private hospital in the interior of the State of Sao Paulo. The sample consisted of 20 nurses who answered 2 identical questionnaires, one demographic member with thirteen questions and the other with a dissertative question regarding the research objective. Results: Twenty nurses were interviewed, where 10 (50%) applied the scale at the time of patient admission, 4 (20%) applied the numerical scale more easily, while another 4 (20%) reported that they did not apply any pain scale. Among these, 20 (100%) consider the scale useful, 17 (85%) do not find difficulties in the application and 14 (70%) do not apply the scale in sedated patients. All of them recognized the importance of the scale and know pain as the 5th vital sign and it was clear that with the application of the scale it is possible to offer more comfort, evaluating the effectiveness of the medication and aiding in the clinical reasoning. Conclusion: All nurses consider it useful to use the pain scale, but lack of an institutional protocol often fails to apply the scale at important moments of patient admission.