Our
PLEDGE to Patients with Pain
We,
the MGH staff, want to work as a team with you and your family to
evaluate, treat, and
prevent pain.
- Your caregivers will listen to you about your pain and take it seriously.
Each person reacts differently to pain and to its treatment. Only you know
what your pain feels like and how much it distresses you. Informing your
care providers that you have pain and requesting treatment is not a sign
of drug addiction, or being a "complainer." We need for you to
tell us just how you feel.
- Your pain will be carefully assessed.
With your help, we will evaluate your pain carefully. We need specific information
from you to help in this process. We may ask you to describe the intensity
of your pain on a scale from zero to ten (where zero is no pain and ten
is the worst imaginable pain). We need you to describe the quality of your
pain (for instance, as stabbing, aching, or burning), its location, how
it varies over time, and what makes it better or worse. We also need to
find out from you how well our treatment is working and how long relief
lasts.
- We will provide you with the information you need to understand your
pain and the ways it can be managed.
We want to keep you informed about how we propose to diagnose your pain
and how the pain can be treated. We hope to develop a plan of care that
fits your values and goals. You should feel free to ask questions and to
discuss with your physician and nurse the cause of your pain and the alternatives
for treatment. Both medications and non-drug treatments may be helpful,
and you should be informed of potential side effects of specific treatments.
If the need arises, pain specialists are available to consult with your
health care team.
- We will seek to prevent pain as well as to treat it.
Ongoing pain is not good for you. It hinders your recovery from illness
and injury and your ability to enjoy life. Unnecessary pain should be avoided,
and pain treatment should be given before a discomfort becomes troublesome.
In general, pain is easier to manage and can be controlled with less medication
when it is treated quickly and prevented from becoming severe. Let us know
what seems to bring on your pain and how it can be avoided, and ask for
treatment before the discomfort becomes difficult to bear.
- We will try to respond promptly to your reports of pain.
While we cannot always come immediately when you report a problem or concern
with pain or its management, promptness is our goal.
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