One of the most common elements of a pain order would be the inclusion of the term “prn”. Which translates into “as needed”. I.E. tid prn. Which in this case would be three times a day as needed.
Once a certain level of pain control is established with a conscious and aware patient, the dosing instruction will almost universally change to “as needed.” And with that, the aware patient is given a certain level of control over how much or often they will take additional dosing. Also, individuals vary in their pain thresholds or individual response to a given dose or milligrams of dose. Something the physician will not always be initially aware of when first starting a pain program. And certain medications can be divided into smaller amounts. Liquids obviously. Tablets or capsules sometimes, based on the individual formulation.
These same instructions are most often given to the aware patient by the physician. Although more often than not, the patient only hears what they want to hear. Or the personal stressors of being ill, overrides their ability to comprehend instructions. One of the reasons physicians and hospitals have become more aware of the need for follow up communication with their patients and customers.
Last edited by battue; 03/29/21.
