Özet:

The increasing elderly population brings with it a variety of health problems. With aging, the incidence of chronic disease has increased and pain becomes one of the most common health complaints. Pain expression is affected by many factors such as a patient’s age, gender, emotional condition, and pain experience. Among the factors that must be considered, age is especially important because the elderly often express differences between pain beliefs and coping strategies. When pain is seen as a natural process in aging, especially among the elderly, and this belief is confirmed by the health professional who work with them, the elderly can experience great difficulties in managing their pain. Therefore, nurses who are responsible for the patient’s primary care have important responsibilities related to older patients’ assessment of pain, pain treatment, and care. Moreover, the assessment and treatment of pain can be difficult due to cognitive and physiological changes in older people. For this reason, it is easier to use pain management guidelines and algorithms for elderly patients. The role of nurses in assessing pain in elderly patients, pain treatment and care, the algorithm used in the evaluation of elderly pain, observed changes and other key components are discussed in this article.

Anahtar Kelimeler: