Registered Nurses´ Association of Ontario
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Sample Questions for Baseline Assessment of Pain
Identify Location of Pain
Ask: Where is your pain? Is there more than one site?
Identify PQRST charachteristics
- P – Pain
- Q – Quality of Pain
- R – Radiation
- S – Severity
- T – Timing
P – Provocating and precipitating factors, relieving factors
Ask:
- What makes your pain worse?
- What makes your pain better?
- What previous treatment have you tried to relieve your pain?
- Were they effective?
Q – Quality of pain (eg. burning, stabbing, gnawing, shooting, lancinating)
Ask:
- What does your pain feel like?
- What words would you use to describe your pain?
Ask:
- Does the pain move anywhere?
S – Severity (use an appropriate intensity scale)
Ask:
- On a scale of 0 to 10 with O being no pain and 10 being the worst pain you can imagine, how much does it hurt right now?
- How much does it hurt at it’s worst?
- How much does it hurt at it’s best?
Ask:
- When did your pain start?
- How often does it occur?
- Has its intensity changed?
- How long does it last?
Identify the effects of pain on function and activities of daily living.
