ABSTRACT
The role of the nurse, historically and currently, is solidly centered in the direct care of the patient. (Zerwekh & Claborn, 2003). When Pellino et al. (2002) completed a role delineation study for the American Society of Pain Management Nursing in 2001, it came as no surprise that survey respondents indicated assessment, monitoring, and evaluation of pain were nurses’ most common activities while caring for patients in pain. In spite of the similarity in nursing activities, nurses practice in a variety of settings including clinics, offices, hospitals, surgical centers, extended-care facilities, hospices, businesses, schools, and patients’ homes, to name a few (Pellino et al., 2002). Nurses may be engaged primarily in critical care, oncology, rehabilitation, home care, supportive or administrative roles, or any of the endless variety of specialized nursing practices. In most patient care settings, nurses are the members of the multidisciplinary team to spend the most time with the patient (McCaffery et al., 2000). Regardless of the practice setting or specialty, improvement in the provision of pain management services is dependent on the involvement of nurses with necessary clinical skills and a commitment toward relieving pain.
