American Nurses Association 600 Maryland Avenue SW; Suite 100 West Washington, DC 20024-2571 202-651-7018; 202-651-7005 fax

MEDIA ADVISORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 17 1998

CONTACT: Michael Stewart, 202-651-7048; [email protected] Michelle Slattery, 202-651-7027; [email protected] [email protected] http://www.nursingworld.org

***EMBARGO NOTE: All ANA convention presentations are embargoed until the date and local time of the presentation (June 25, 1998, 10:00a.m.).***

Nursing Experts Highlight Inadequate Pain Management For Children and Adults at June 25 Media Briefing

WHAT: Researchers will present their latest findings on pain management for children and adults at the American Nurses Association (ANA) media briefing on pain management at the ANA Convention.

WHEN: Thursday, June 25; 10 - 11 a.m.

WHERE: San Diego Convention Center, Room 7-A

WHO: Briefing panelists Nancy O. Hester, PhD, RN, CNS, FAAN; Marion P. Good, PhD, RN; and Nancy E. Donaldson, DNSc, RN are among the presenters of new and integrative research on pain management at the ANA's San Diego meeting.

WHY: The pain experienced by America's ill and injured -- from infants to the dying elderly -- remains undertreated. Nothing is more terrifying than severe or chronic pain. We fear confronting pain at some point in life and dread encountering it in the life of a loved one. Part of the fear pain inspires is that it can seem incommunicable and baffling, and it can be terribly isolating. People across the life cycle are vulnerable to pain due to illness or injury. The experience and anticipation of pain have particular impact on end-of-life decision-making, and help drive the ongoing debates on assisted suicide and euthanasia. Unrelieved or undertreated pain stresses the individual's already vulnerable body-mind system, increasing immunological risk, and creates stresses that can prolong or prevent recovery. Nursing research on pain management offers new hope for better health care outcomes and for easing needless suffering.

This release and other ANA information for media on the Convention and Pre-Convention Research Utilization Pre-Conference on Evidence-Based Nursing Practice are available in electronic format at: http://www.nursingworld.org/pressrel/index.htm and at http://www.newswise.com (click on MedNews in Newswise.)

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The American Nurses Association is the only full-service professional organization representing the nation's 2.6 million Registered Nurses through its 53 constituent associations. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.