In the survey, Medscape received 2,100 responses in December 2016, a few months after the American Academy of Family Physicians Congress of Delegates voted in favor of getting rid of pain as a fifth vital sign.
Here are five takeaways from the survey:
1. Forty-seven percent of physicians said they strongly agreed pain should not be a fifth vital sign.
2. Seventeen percent of physicians reported somewhat agreeing with the above statement and 19 percent reported strongly disagreeing.
3. Forty-five percent of nurses said they strongly agreed pain should not be a fifth vital sign.
4. Twenty-two percent of nurses said they somewhat agreed officials should eliminate pain as a vital sign while 19 percent strongly disagreed.
5. Regarding how often they use pain scores and functional status, 55 percent of physicians and 80 percent of nurses said they often or always use pain scores to assess a patient’s pain.
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