Pain assessment scales

How do the pain scale features work?   

Pain assessment scales improve communication and understanding about the pain residents may be experiencing.   

Our digital care planning system, mCare, has multiple pain assessment scales, all of which have been specifically designed to assist in assessing pain levels accurately and help carers to identify and record pain levels at the point of care.

Each pain assessment scale offers a unique way of supporting residents to communicate their level of pain effectively.

Our pain assessment scales include:  

Abbey Pain Scale

The Abbey Pain Scale uses a series of questions to assist in assessing pain in residents who cannot clearly articulate their needs.

Wong-Baker

The Wong-Baker scale shows a series of faces ranging from a happy face at 0, representing 'no hurt', to a crying face at 10, representing 'hurts the worst' - the scale is for residents who respond well to expressing their pain through identifying facial expressions.

Numerical Rating Scale (NRS)

The NRS scale enables residents to select their pain level on a scale of 0 – 10.

What are the benefits of pain assessment scales?

Having a way of measuring pain helps with the following:

Improving communication and understanding about the pain a resident may be experiencing. 
Diagnosing what may be the cause of the resident's pain.

Monitoring the progression of the resident's condition.
Determining if treatment is working for the resident.

Our pain scales support residents who are experiencing pain but have difficulty communicating it, which can result from dementia, a learning disability, or other conditions that can interfere with communication.