Advanced training in specialized pain management for nurses and medical assistants (Headache and Pain Nurse)

Further training in specialized pain management for nurses and MFA/physician assistants (Headache and Pain Nurse)

In recent decades, fundamental changes have occurred in the understanding and treatment of acute and chronic pain. Medical assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals are often the first point of contact for patients with acute and chronic pain. Up-to-date knowledge and understanding of acute and chronic pain are therefore essential for successful therapy and effective interdisciplinary teamwork.

Until just a few years ago, pain was almost exclusively perceived as a consequence of tissue damage, both by the general public and in the training of medical assistants. Pain was seen as a symptom that hardly required specific attention. For example, pain medication was thought to be administered only when necessary and only after persistent requests from the patient. While viewing pain as a consequence of tissue damage is relevant for the treatment of acute pain, this view oversimplifies the understanding of the development and treatment of chronic pain. In acute pain, the pain should serve as a guide to the possible cause and motivate treatment. It typically lasts only a short time and is often treatable at its root cause.

Chronic pain, on the other hand, usually cannot be traced back to a single cause. Nor is it primarily a symptom of another illness. Chronic pain is generally the illness itself; it has developed into an independent condition that requires specific treatment. Serious errors can be made with traditional understandings of pain, perpetuating the pain and contributing to its further chronicity. Medical support professions, in particular, can provide essential positive support for treatment. Patients need to learn early on to develop an understanding of chronic pain, to manage it, and to find ways to replan their lives in light of the functional limitations, pain, and illness. Many prejudices surrounding pain management can, in the absence of knowledge, contribute to a worsening and further entrenchment of the pain. Learning experiences, knowledge, information, feelings, evaluations, and expectations all influence the experience of pain. Pain is also modified by motor and autonomic mechanisms. The perception of the social environment can also significantly shape and perpetuate the experience of pain.

A marked reduction in quality of life, work capacity, and social withdrawal quickly accompany chronic pain as accompanying symptoms and functional limitations. Medication misuse, pain-maintaining psychological comorbidities, and physical illnesses that complicate pain management further contribute to the problem. Patients suffer from sleep disturbances, increased sensitivity, personality changes, complex physical symptoms, low mood, irritability, and changes in interests and capacity for experience, further complicating the clinical picture.

All these symptoms must be addressed in patient care and are typically closely monitored by an interdisciplinary team during treatment. In the traditional training of medical assistants, these aspects did not play a central role. However, they are commonplace in the care of patients with chronic pain, particularly in specialized pain centers. Therefore, it is crucial that medical assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals possess up-to-date knowledge. The "Specialized Pain Management" curriculum for medical assistants and nurses aims to make this knowledge readily available for patient care and everyday practice. The curriculum will cover both the medical fundamentals and the behavioral and psychological aspects of chronic pain in an interdisciplinary manner.

The curriculum will include, among other things, the following topics: