TOPEKA, Kan. (PRWEB) September 30, 2019
The American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) supports the HHS Pain Management Best Practices Inter-Agency Task Force Report recently released. The Report identified gaps and inconsistencies in pain management and offered recommendations for improving pain management best practices. To improve the lives of patients living with acute and chronic pain, the Task Force emphasized the importance of:
- Individualized, patient-centered care fostering a therapeutic alliance between the patient and clinician
- Multidisciplinary approaches utilizing one or more treatment modalities and the biopsychosocial model to pain care
- Consideration of special patient populations, as well as comorbid conditions that can accompany complex pain conditions
- Recommending the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other insurers align their reimbursement guidelines for non-opioid pharmacologic therapies with current clinical practice guidelines.
The Task Force’s recommendations span five broad treatment approaches to pain management: Medication, Restorative Therapies, Interventional Procedures, Behavioral Health Approaches, and Complementary and Integrative Health, that are reinforced by four cross-cutting themes critical to all treatment approaches: Risk Assessment, Stigma, Access to Care, and Education. The Report also discusses the role of the 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A philosophical and cultural shift to focus on addressing chronic and acute pain by utilizing Complementary and Integrative Health approaches has been proven effective and is widely supported by holistic nurses practicing in all healthcare settings. It is important that health insurers recognize the urgent need to reimburse the effective complementary and integrative approaches to pain.
You can read the full report and visit HHS’s accompanying toolkit here: https://www.hhs.gov/ash/advisory-committees/pain/reports/index.html
AHNA’s “Holistic Pain Relief Toolkit”
AHNA’s “Holistic Pain Relief Toolkit” is used to educate and support registered nurses in the use of evidence-based nonpharmacologic approaches in their nursing practice and self-care. The Toolkit includes educational content about using essential oils, physical and energetic touch, thermal applications, progressive muscle relaxation, Meditation Based Stress Reduction, visualization, yoga, tai chi, and more for pain management and relief. It contains: content for nurses to learn about these approaches and the available evidence to support these tools.
“The Holistic Nurses' Pain Relief Tools for Patients & Self-Care” is a 2-page pdf designed to be a quick guide to nursing pain management interventions that are simple, safe and effective. Nurses are encouraged download, print, and share the Holistic Nurses' Pain Relief Tools for Patients & Self-Care: http://www.AHNA.org/holistic-pain-tools
About AHNA
At its founding in 1981, the American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA) adopted as its primary mission, the advancement of holistic healthcare by increasing awareness and promoting education, as well as personal community-building among nurses, other healthcare professionals and the public. This nonprofit professional membership organization is the definitive voice for holistic nursing for registered nurses and other holistic healthcare professionals around the world. Holistic nursing focuses on integrating traditional, complementary and alternative treatment opportunities to improve the mind body and spiritual health of the whole person. AHNA delivers valuable resources, improves educational tools, and offers superior networking opportunities to a vibrant and expanding universe of holistic healthcare professionals. AHNA currently services more than 5,500 members through 166 local chapters/networks in the U.S. and abroad. Holistic nursing is recognized by the American Nurses Association as an official nursing specialty with both as defined scope and standards of practice.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Terri Roberts, JD, RN
Executive Director
director@ahna.org
(800) 278-2462 or (785) 234-1712
