Conclusion
Effective management of cancer-related pain is an
essential skill for all nurses caring for individuals
with cancer. This includes the ability to perform a
comprehensive and holistic pain assessment,
knowledge of the appropriate use of opioids and
adjuvants, management of opioid-induced
adverse effects, and awareness of interventions
and other treatments for cancer-related pain. The
principles of pain management provided by the
WHO analgesic ladder should be considered a
basic template but do not capture the complexity
of cancer-related pain or current options for
treatment. Current guidelines reflect a distillation
of the best data available. While the evidence for
our current management of cancer-related pain
may be limited, the need to implement guidelines
for best practice and provide effective pain management
is clear. The burden of suffering weighs
too heavily on patients, their families, and the
health-care system to consider doing otherwise.
The failure of dissemination strategies may be
a barrier to consistent implementation of guidelines;
use of an audit and feedback mechanism