Nothing is more terrifying than severe or chronic pain.
We fear confronting pain at some point in life and dread encountering it in the life of a loved one. Part of the fear pain inspires is that it can seem incommunicable and baffling, and it can be terribly isolating. People across the life cycle are vulnerable to pain due to illness or injury. Unrelieved or undertreated pain stresses the individual's already vulnerable body-mind system, increasing immunological risk, and creates stresses that can prolong or prevent recovery. Nursing research on pain management offers new hope for better health care outcomes and for easing needless suffering.