Nursing Session

The management of pain in inflammatory arthritis can be complicated. Its important to differentiate between different types of pain, explain these to the patient and treat accordingly. Pain can be due to inflammatory disease eg rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis; tissue damage eg osteoarthritis; nerve pain eg shingles, carpal tunnel; or due to increased sensitivity of the pain system eg fibromyalgia. Patients may have a combination of two or more of these which can be challenging not only for the patient but also the clinician. Understanding the signs and symptoms of each is vital for the rheumatology nurse to be able to fully assess and evaluate care. Individualised care is important as everyone’s perception of pain is different. Factors such as sleep, physical health, diet and mental health can also play a role and so a holistic approach is essential. Management of the rheumatology patient involves a combination of pharmacological therapies but, probably more importantly from the rheumatology nurse point of view, non-pharmacological approaches. Of course, the diagnosis will determine the pharmacological treatments but can more be done? With a focus on pain, this presentation will follow a patient who is attending the rheumatology clinic with a diagnosis of inflammatory arthritis but their journey is not as simple as it sounds.