Pain Management

The Cancer Pain Management Team (CPMT) is a multi-disciplinary team of professionals whose goals are to improve pain management in cancer patients, as well as to educate colleagues and improve the overall pain management process at Scott & White. The team members are:

• C. Rick Roberson, M.D., Anesthesiologist
• Jon Herrington, Pharm.D.,B.C.P.S., Clinical Pharmacist
• Lynne Palamara, M.S.N., R.N., A.O.C.N., C.N.S., Clinical Nurse Specialist

Each member has received specialized training in pain management and is committed to the goal of quality pain control for all oncology patients.

One of the team's mechanisms for achieving this goal is to serve as a formal consult team. Any Scott & White physician can consult the CMPT to evaluate and intervene for a hospitalized cancer patient with challenging pain control issues.

The team talks with and assesses the patient, makes recommendations for interventions and then follows up with the patient until the pain is consistently controlled. The team also uses the consultation process as an opportunity to educate patients and their families about pain management. Since the patient is the most important member of the team, we emphasize to the patient and family the importance of the patient consistently reporting his/her pain so it can be treated.

A second strategy of the team is to serve as informal consultants and educators. Each team member frequently answers telephone calls regarding concerns or questions about a particular patient in need. In addition, all members give pain management lectures on a regular basis to Scott & White staff. A patient may request to see the CMPT simply by talking with his/her physician about ordering a CMPT consult.

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