The Joint Commission began setting standards for pain assessment in 2001 stating that the route of analgesic administration dictates the times for pain reassessment, as different routes require different amounts of time for the medication to have a therapeutic effect.
A scale with corresponding faces depicting various levels of pain is shown to the patient and they select one.
[1][2][3][4] Hedonic adaptation means that actual long-term suffering due to physical illness is often much lower than expected.
[5] One area where assessments of pain and suffering are required to be made effectively is in legal awards.
In the Western world these are typically discretionary awards made by juries and are regarded as difficult to predict, variable and subjective, for instance in the US,[6] UK, [7] Australia and New Zealand.
[8] Many patients who use drugs and are on opioids, analgesics, benzodiazepines, stimulants, barbiturates, and sedative-hypnotics have the potential to become addicted.
In long-term care facilities, three non-drug interventions need to be attempted before administering anti-anxiety or anti-psychotic medications.