Nursing Home Resident Barriers to Effective Pain Management: Why Nursing Home Residents May Not Seek Pain Medication

Interventions to reduce pain in nursing home residents need to be responsive to the concerns of the residents. It must be acknowledged that resident preferences and beliefs may lead to declined pain interventions regardless of the staff's motivation to make the resident more comfortable. Staff nurses also need to make a more concerted effort to systematically assess pain and offer pain medication to residents rather than rely on resident requests.