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Based on medical record review and interview, the hospital failed to perform the required patient reassessment after administering pain medications according to the facility policy. Failure to perform reassessments following pain medication administration places the patient at risk for an unintended outcome of either not having pain relieved or an adverse reaction to the medication delivered.

Findings include:
The facility policy on Pain Management outlines the reassessment criteria following administration of pain medications. The policy specifies that a reassessment following oral pain medication will be performed by the nurse within 60 minutes and intravenous pain mediations within 30 minutes.

On review of nine medical records, Patients #1, #3, #4, #6 and #7 required pain medication administration following their pain assessment. The reassessment of the effectiveness of the pain medication was not completed within the time frame outlined by the facility policy. The prolonged reassessment was verified by the Director of Critical Care and the Acute Care Nursing Manager.