As defined in the Oxford Dictionary, pain is a ‘highly unpleasant physical sensation caused by illness or injury’ (Stevenson, 2010). This is further compounded by Jones and Machen (2003) who identify...
The developments that were envisaged by the Department of Health's (2000) healthcare reform plan have placed a wider scope of professional practice on many healthcare workers and have allowed for...
The biopsychosocial model is a term to describe the combination of three important factors that heavily influence the lives of patients suffering a disease or illness:.
Cannulation is the main barrier to the administration of opioid analgesia, and this has been shown to be a problem in the young, the elderly, the shocked patient and the cognitively impaired. Studies...
Important advances in the prevention and management of pain occurred in the mid-1800s, when drugs that produced anaesthesia were first used during surgery. These drugs included nitrous oxide, ether...
Pain scoring and indeed pain management has widely been studied in the pre-hospital environment, with many different aspects explored. These include paramedic perspectives (Jones and Machen, 2003),...
Spotlight on Research is edited by Julia Williams, principal lecturer, paramedic science, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire UK. To find out how you can contribute to future...
It is of paramount importance that surgical teams are involved early in cases where the situation can progress and rapidly deteriorate (e.g. intussusception or appendicitis) (UK Ambulance Service...
A 19 year old man attended an ED in Wales (UK) with an eleven day history of low back pain. Following a five mile walk he developed bilateral heaviness in his legs, one day later he experienced...
