Pain Assessment: Use of the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale in Patients With Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Thorough, consistent pain assessment and reassessment are critical to guide and evaluate interventions designed to improve pain.

OBJECTIVES: Based on a literature review about functional pain assessment, clinicians selected and then implemented the Defense and Veterans Pain Rating Scale (DVPRS) as a pain assessment instrument option in a comprehensive cancer center.

METHODS: The DVPRS was added as a pain assessment instrument in clinical oncology practice. From postimplementation chart review and clinician satisfaction surveys, the DVPRS was evaluated for the following.

FINDINGS: Seventy-eight percent of nurses surveyed (N = 64) preferred the DVPRS over any other pain assessment tool. Inpatient and ambulatory patients surveyed (N = 144) agreed that a Likert-type scale in the DVPRS was easier to understand, easier to use, and better in describing their pain than the numeric rating scale.