Good afternoon,

For patients who are unable to verbally communicate pain, do you have separate prn pain medication orders that include the non-verbal pain assessment tool used? Or do you include both verbal and non-verbal pain scales in your prn pain medication orders? Would greatly appreciate it if you could share examples of your orders.
Thank you in advance for any advice or insight you can share!

Hello fellow Med Safety officers.

I am looking to see how other institutions manage duplicate pain medications ordered via different routes, but for the same pain scale to comply with JCAHO's "Med orders are clear & accurate" standard.

For example:
Post-op ortho orders:
Oxy IR 10mg po q4hrs prn severe (7-10) pain
Dilaudid 0.5mg IV q2hrs prn severe (7-10) pain

We have continued feedback from regulatory surveyors regarding pain management and providing medication for the appropriate score.

Typically a handful of one-offs where the patient in one of the two areas:

We have continued feedback from regulatory surveyors regarding pain management and providing medication for the appropriate score.

Typically a handful of one-offs where the patient in one of the two areas: