News Briefs
News Briefs
Tools for pain assessment and management
In 2001, the new pain management standards created by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations based in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, will take effect, and health care facilities will be expected to train staff to assess for pain and help patients effectively manage their pain.
Cards are used to rate pain
To assist health care facilities with the standards, Englewood, CO-based Micromedex created a set of reference cards for pain assessment and intervention. They include a pain scale, a method for pointing at the source of pain, and a quick reference for nonpharmacologic interventions such as deep abdominal breathing. The patient assessment cards are translated in Spanish, Arabic, Russian, and Vietnamese. Micromedex is a Medical Economics company.
In addition, the company’s CareNotes System, which has 3,000 patient education leaflets, will gain 18 additional documents focusing on pain. These new leaflets include pain management in children, pain management in the elderly, cancer pain management, rehabilitative pain management, and chronic pain management.
For more information or to request a sample leaflet or assessment card, contact: Micromedex, 6200 S. Syracuse Way, Suite 300, Englewood, CO 80111-4740. Telephone: (303) 486-6400. Fax: (303) 486-6464. E-mail: [email protected]. Web site: www.micromedex.com.
Aspiration prevention in young children
The pediatricians at Advocate Lutheran General Children’s Hospital in Park Ridge, IL, released some safety guidelines for parents of young children to prevent aspiration. They include cutting hot dogs and grapes into quarters and having children sit down when eating. Foods the pediatricians recommended that parents not give children under the age of four include:
• nuts of any kind;
• carrots or apples;
• marshmallows;
• popcorn;
• sticky/hard candy;
• chunks of meat, cheese, or peanut butter;
• gum balls.
"Parents should use common sense when preparing food for their children. A child’s swallowing mechanism is not fully developed, and certain foods are extremely dangerous, especially in children less than four years of age," says David L. Walner, MD, pediatric otolaryngologist at the hospital.
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