Relationship of the nonverbal unable to self-rate pain scale and verbal scale on adult post-operative patients

Pain and how to measure pain has always been a challenge to the profession of nursing. The best way to assess patients' pain is by having them self-report or verbally inform the healthcare provider by evaluating how the pain feels. The American Pain Society calls the self-report of pain the "Gold Standard of Pain Assessment." The struggle as to how to measure pain occurs when a patient is unable to verbally explain to the nurse that they are in pain/the severity of their pain or if there is a new type of pain they are experiencing. The Nonverbal/Unable to Self-Rate Pain Scale is a tool utilized to help rate pain nonverbally for those who are unable to communicate pain. This tool is a combination of three different nonverbal pain scales which had not been shown to have a relationship with a verbal pain score. This quantitative pilot study compared post-operative patients' reported verbal pain score with the score the principal investigator observed, utilizing the Nonverbal/Unable to Self-Rate Pain Scale. The sample was a convenience sample. The study was conducted at a suburban hospital containing 150 beds. The unit participating in the study was a 47 bed medical/surgical floor specializing in bariatric surgery. The data were analyzed utilizing simple and descriptive statistics. The theoretical framework utilized for this study was Kolcaba's Comfort Theory. The outcome of this study revealed that a nonverbal observed pain score was consistently lower than the verbal pain scores reported by post-operative patients. The clinical implications are the Nonverbal/Unable to Self-Rate Pain Scale is not a useful tool in measuring pain. However, the study did find that the Nonverbal/Unable to Self-Rate Pain Scale was more accurate with the male population. Further input with a broader patient scope could further and better evaluate the effectiveness of the pain scale utilized.