Difficulties faced by nurses to use pain as the fifth vital sign and the mechanisms/actions adopted: an integrative review

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pain was recognized as the fifth vital sign in 1996, and many nurses have difficulty in evaluating it. Since it is necessary to know the difficulties to use pain as a fifth vital sign, this study aims at acquiring a better knowledge about pain, assessment methods and strategies/actions to guarantee its control. The objective of this study was to identify and analyze, in the Brazilian and international literature, the difficulties faced by nurses to use pain as the fifth vital sign and the mechanisms/actions adopted. CONTENTS: It is an integrative review in which the search for scientific articles was carried out in LILACS, BDENF, Scielo, Pubmed, Scopus and Web of Science databases, using the descriptors nursing, pain, and pain and vital signs management in Portuguese, English, and Spanish. The selection criteria were the period from 1995 to 2017 in the three languages mentioned. After searching and reading the articles, nine studies were included. Two categories were listed after reading the articles: 1) difficulties faced by nurses to use pain as a fifth vital sign and 2) mechanisms/actions adopted to minimize the difficulties faced by nurses to use pain as a fifth vital sign. CONCLUSION: It was evidenced that it is important that nurses consider/assess pain as the fifth vital sign, therefore aiming at better care, which, consequently, will influence the quality of care provided, improving patient's health and quality of life