*TS: Tracer Methodology 101: Tracing Pain Management in a Nursing Care Center (PDF) [REF: RN] The Source, May 2016, Vol 14, #1, Pg 4 JCs1601_B6

Although the setting is a Nursing Care Center, the article makes a couple of useful points for psychiatric settings as well.  First, it indicates that a key compliance challenge is the failure to consistently document and reassess pain in a timely manner.  Second, it advocates for a deeper questioning/assessment of individuals with a history of chronic and/or intermittent pain. Even though they may not report pain at the present moment it is suggested that the assessment of such persons might include questions such as:

• How often do you feel pain during the course of a day?
• When was the last time you did feel pain?  
• If you have had pain in the last week, how debilitating was it?

Such questions may provide insight for developing a treatment plan that more effectively anticipates and responds to the patient’s pain management needs.  As always, the article also presents a brief, related survey scenario with sample questions.
Tip1: Encourage more pain history as indicated above when assessing patients with chronic or intermittent pain.
Tip2: Consider use of the sample questions in pain-focused mock tracers.