The level of knowledge about analgesic medication, pain assessment, and cognitive impairment that the healthcare staff possesses will directly influence quality of care in the nursing home. This article found that the staff members had a low knowledge level regarding the relationship among pain assessment, analgesic medication, and the cognitive impaired resident. It will be a shared responsibility of the institution and the staff member to stay updated with the most current information on all three. One possible intervention, to regulate the level of knowledge the staff maintains, that the institution could offer would be a continuous learning system. Requiring staff members to complete so much maintanance hours of education while they are employed.
Nurses are a vital part to care in any institutions, especially in a nursing home setting.
As the elderly population increases with the aging of the baby boomers quality care in nursing homes will become a more publicized aspect of healthcare. In the nursing home setting physicians often write standing PRN orders for pain medications. As Horgas and Tsai stated, the administration of prescribed analgesics becomes a nursing action. Taking into consideration the characteristics of cognitive impairment, ie. As a nurse my role becomes very evident, try and develop alternative methods to help the clients communicate pain.