2．Pain Assessment and Implications for Understanding Nursing Assessment

　I am delighted to have this opportunity to present my work on pain assessment and share with you my thoughts on nursing assessment. I will proceed with some discussions on pain and pain assessment, followed by a presentation of my views on nursing assessment, and then introduce you into the framework of action science and present our research on pain assessment from this perspective. The last section deals with critical reflective inquiry as a method to improve pain assessment.

　Pain is a major symptom and problem in patients in hospitals and institutions as well as in ordinary people. Research results indicate that more than 50％and in some instances over 80％ of patients in hospitals and nursing homes experience pain sometime during their in-patient stays. I am sure each of you can think of at least one patient whose chief complain was pain among those you cared for during the most recent practice day. Pain has a profound effect on the quality of life and functioning, and can lead to disability and other morbidity. Pain may affect patients' quality of sleep, mobility, eating, emotions such as depression and irritability, and social interactions. Pain in hospitalized patients is likely to influence length of stay, poor recovery, and poor patient outcomes.