PAIN IDENTIFICATION BY NURSES IN ADULT PATIENTS IN INTENSIVE CARE: STATE OF THE ART IN BRAZIL (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Pain is an unpleasant sensation or emotional experience, whether or not associated with tissue damage, of sudden or slow onset, of any intensity. For the most part, because it is a sensation, the patient's verbal report is considered essential for diagnosing pain. However, most patients admitted to intensive care remain sedated or in a coma, making this report impossible. Thus, this study aimed to identify the state of the art on pain in adult patients in intensive care in nursing studies in Brazil. This is an integrative review, whose data collection was carried out in January 2022. Using the descriptors pain, nursing, intensive care and the Boolean connector and, a search was carried out in the Virtual Health Library (BVS). Five articles were considered for analysis. All of them have an author body composed of nurses and nursing students and are randomly distributed over the time established for analysis. From the meaning units present in the analyzed studies, three categories emerged: I- Acute pain in intensive care; II- Non-verbal pain assessment of adult ICU patients; III- Pain for patients in palliative care in intensive care. It was concluded that, although there are some pain assessment methods in intensive care patients, they are still not sufficient for an adequate pain management and, when relevant, the nursing professional's lack of information combined with the lack of adequate protocols for management. of pain in institutions contributes to the neglect of this situation.