Assessment and management of pain at the end of life is a manifold issue with a deep impact on the patient's quality of life. With a better understanding of pain management's key principles at the end of life, caregivers can contribute to providing comfort and solace to their dying patients.
Studies of dying patients reveal that up to 57 percent describe moderate or severe pain in the last month of life and 23 percent experience uncontrolled pain in the last week of life. Untreated pain can be devastating to the patient and family or other loved ones not only because of the suffering it produces, but also because it interferes with the ability to complete important tasks at the end of life. Pain management at the end of life is a right of the patient and the duty of the clinician.
A key element to achieving satisfactory pain relief for the patient at the end of life is knowledge of pain reduction medications. Failure to treat pain effectively can result from a lack of clinician training regarding end-of-life care or from the fear of violating ethical, moral, and legal tenets in the administration of pain medication to the dying patient. Clinicians may have an exaggerated misperception of the risk of hastening death when treating patients with opioids. Furthermore, some clinicians may be unclear about the clear associations between sedation for intractable pain, anxiety, delirium and sleep disturbances at the end of life as they relate to pain management.
This presentation will highlight the latest pharmacologic modalities to treat pain at the end of life. In addition to discussing the pharmacology of opioids, we will also state the importance of NSAIDS, benzodiazepines, antidepressants, hypnotics and anticonvulsants in pain management. The importance of drug-drug interactions and organ failure with regards to end-of-life pharmacology will be highlighted. 14
Planning Committee Disclosure - No relevant relationships
All members of the PESI, Inc. planning committee have provided disclosures of financial relationships with ineligible organizations and any relevant non-financial relationships prior to planning content for this activity. None of the committee members had relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies or other potentially biasing relationships to disclose to learners. For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.
NOTE: Tuition includes one free CE Certificate (participant will be able to print the certificate of completion after passing the online post-test (80% passing score) and completing the evaluation). Instructional methods will include PowerPoint, didactic lecture, and others.
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For Planning Committee disclosures, please see the statement above. For speaker disclosures, please see the faculty biography.
Earn up to 3.0 CE hours. Please see below, for more details, as credit amounts vary by state and profession.
This self-study program offers 180 instructional minutes of pharmacology content which is designed to qualify for 3.0 contact hours toward your pharmacology requirement.
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PESI, Inc. is an approved provider by the Florida Board of Nursing. Provider #: FBN2858. These materials qualify for 3.0 self-study contact hours.
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PESI, Inc. is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. PESI, Inc. designates this enduring material for a maximum of 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. This activity was originally recorded on 09/06/2023. It was last reviewed on 10/07/2023 and is valid until 10/06/2026.
Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. You are required to successfully complete and submit a post-test prior to receiving a certificate of completion.
AAPA accepts certificates of participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by ACCME such as PESI. Physician assistants may receive a maximum of 3.0 hours for completing this self-study program. This activity was originally recorded on 09/06/2023. It was last reviewed on 10/07/2023 and is valid until 10/06/2026.
PESI, Inc. is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. PESI, Inc. designates this enduring material for a maximum of 3.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.
This self-study activity qualifies for 3.0 continuing education clock hours as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations. Save your activity advertisement and certificate of completion, and contact your own board or organization for specific requirements.
| File type | File name | Number of pages | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manual - Pharmacology of Pain Management at the End-of-Life: Association Between Pain, Anxiety, Delirium and Sleep Disorders in Terminally ill Patients (4.4 MB) | 102 Pages | Available after Purchase |
Paul Langlois, APN, PhD, CCRN, CCNS, is a critical care clinical specialist in the surgical, medical, neurologic, burn, CCU, and trauma ICUs of Cook County Hospital, Chicago. Drawing on over 40 years of experience assessing and managing patients with life-threatening diseases, Dr. Langlois provides advanced-level training to nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, and physicians.
Dr. Langlois is committed to providing the highest quality of care to patients through advanced education. His presentations are evidence-based, timely, and provide participants with numerous case studies to facilitate critical thinking. As a bedside clinical nurse specialist, he has developed several institution-wide protocols for the multidisciplinary assessment and management of infectious disease and multi-system organ failure patients.
His presentations are enthusiastically delivered and offer highly practical tips that help make the most challenging concepts easy to understand. Linking knowledge to clinical practice is the goal of every educational program.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Paul Langlois has employment relationships with Cook County Hospital and Emergency Care Consultants. He receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. He has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Paul Langlois is a member of the American Nurses Association and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses.
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Pharmacokinetics of analgesics
Non-opioid medications
Opioid medications
Breakthrough pain management
Benzodiazepines
Delirium recognition and pharmacologic treatment
Pharmacologic agents used in sleep management
Complications with pharmacologic pain management at the end of life
Case studies
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