Nursing Care Plan for Acute Pain

Patient can experience acute pain due to many reasons. Some reasons include musculoskeletal disorders such as fractures or arthritis to treatment related issues such as burns or accidents.

Below is a nursing care plan for acute pain that includes a nursing diagnosis, interventions, and goals.

This care plan is listed to give an example of how a Nurse (LPN or RN) may plan to treat a patient with those conditions.

Important Disclosure: Please keep in mind that these care plans are listed for Example/Educational purposes only, and some of these treatments may change over time. Do not treat a patient based on this care plan.

Care Plans are often developed in different formats. The formatting isn’t always important, and care plan formatting may vary among different nursing schools or medical jobs. Some hospitals may have the information displayed in digital format, or use pre-made templates. The most important part of the care plan is the content, as that is the foundation on which you will base your care.

If you want to view a video tutorial on how to construct a care plan in nursing school, please view the video below. Otherwise, scroll down to view this completed care plan.

Scenario

A 68 year old male is admitted for hypertension. The patient blood pressure is now under control but now the patient has developed pain in his left big toe. The patient toe is red and warm to the touch. When the toe is touched the patient winces in pain. The patient states it hurts to move his toe and that it is painful for a blanket or sheet to touch it. He states it hurt more at night and describes the pain as throbbing and crushing. The doctors diagnosis is gout. The patient states his mother had gout attacks but this is the first time he has had one and finds it very painful. The patient rates his pain 8 on 1-10 scale.

Nursing Diagnosis

Acute pain related to tissue trauma and reflex muscle spasms secondary to gout as evidence by patient rates pain 8 on 1-10 scale and winces in pain.

Subjective Data

The patient states it hurts to move his toe and that it is painful for a blanket or sheet to touch it. He states it hurt more at night and describes the pain as throbbing and crushing. The patient states his mother had gout attacks but this is the first time he has had one and finds it very painful. The patient rates his pain 8 on 1-10 scale.

Objective Data

A 68 year old male is admitted for hypertension. The patient blood pressure is now under control but now the patient has developed pain in his left big toe. The patient toe is red and warm to the touch. When the toe is touched the patient winces in pain.

Nursing Outcomes

-The patient will verbalize decrease in pain by rating pain less than 4 on 1-10 scale within 24 hours of receiving pain medication.

AACN Advanced Critical Care is a peer-reviewed nursing journal and an official publication of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. It is intended for "experienced critical care and acute care clinicians at the bedside, advanced practice nurses, and clinical and academic educators."
The journal is indexed and abstracted in: Academic...

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