Table of Contents

There is no other book devoted to the assessment, management and presentation of pain and suffering. Written by experienced clinicians and attorneys, this book will help the healthcare professional understand how to better alleviate pain and suffering, and the attorney more effectively litigate claims. A unique blend of authors have contributed solid material covering a range of concerns on this hot topic. This book is loaded with practical information, medical illustrations, figures and tables, pain assessment forms, sample and questions for direct examination of witnesses. 

Written for the healthcare professional, claims adjuster and trial attorney, this book provides detailed information on how to analyze pain and suffering cases. You will read chapters written by legal nurse consultants, physicians and attorneys and see how pain and suffering patients and cases are viewed and treated on all sides.

Each section of this valuable text is designed to fully explain each aspect of this hot topic in healthcare. The book starts with an overview of understanding medical records and commonly used pain assessment tools. It continues with a focus on high-risk populations, pain and suffering in children and cancer pain. The last section is dedicated to presenting pain and suffering cases.

By combining the clinical information in the first two sections with the legal strategies in the last section, this book becomes a must read for any attorney litigating medical, nursing, or nursing home negligence cases.

Topics include:
organization and analysis of medical records 
pain assessment and management 
chronic pain 
cancer, spinal cord injury, wounds and burns 
life-care planning and chronic pain 
pain and suffering in children 
trial exhibits 
ante-mortem damages 
defense and plaintiffs' perspectives 
and much more 

What the reviewers had to say:
I have spent the last 25 years of my career as a personal injury attorney. Despite this background, I learned there was much that I did not know about the medical perspectives on pain and suffering.  Roy Konray Esq  

Excellent, very informative with many good practical suggestions.   Abbott Brown Esq.

The most important of all these discussions is that the authors have included the family of the patient in the proper management of pain.
Puneet Setia and Avneesh Gupta

Accurate, comprehensive and would assist a trial lawyer in understanding how to present evidence of pain and suffering.  John Shea Esq.

At last, the trial attorney will now have an excellent resource tool to use in proving pain and suffering by a decedent in a wrongful death case.  Marvin Pincus Esq.

Plaintiff’s attorneys have a very difficult time articulating to juries what the phrase pain and suffering actually means, and the information in the book will be a great aid in assisting plaintiff attorneys to convey these concepts to a jury. Jennie Shatynski Esq.

Pat: What a great job! I have just begun to browse through the book and already it has provided several ideas about approaching various pain and suffering issues in our cases. I already know that we will refer to it often. Brian Zorn Esq.

Related books:

Falls Handbook

Paralysis from a Medical Error

Table of Contents

Detailed Table of Contents

1. Organization and Analysis of Medical Records
Patricia Iyer, MSN, RN, LNCC

2. Pain Assessment
Yvonne D'Arcy, MS, CRNP, CNS

3. Pain Management
Dorene A. O'Hara, MD, MSE

4. A Psychologist's View of Pain and Suffering
Lisa Stepp, Ph.D., M.S., R.N., APN, AOCN, CRNH

5. Suffering: A Multidimensional Concept
Leta Truett, PhD, RN and Patricia Iyer, MSN, RN, LNCC

6. Pain and Suffering of Children
Sally A. Lambert, PhD, RN and Diane C. Hudson-Barr, PhD, RN

7. Pain and Suffering in Pediatric Neurology
Michael A. Pollack, MD, Michael R. D'Lugo, Esq., and Richard H. Ford, Esq.

8. Pain and Suffering in Emergency Care
Renee Holleran, PhD, RN, CEN, CCRN, CFRN

9. Spinal Cord Injury
Guy William Fried, MD and Karen Mandzak Fried, MSN, RN, CRRN, CCM

10. Pain and Suffering in Orthopaedics
Nancy E. Mooney, MA, RN, ONC

11. Cancer Pain and Suffering
Carol Bales, MSN, RN, AOCN, CCRP

12. Wounds and Burns
Kelly Jaszarowski, MSN, RN, CNS, ANP, CWOCN

13. Ostomies and Incontinence
Kelly Jaszarowski, MSN, RN, CNS, ANP, CWOCN

14. Pain and Suffering in the Intensive Care Unit
Ian Larry Cohen, MD, FCCP, FCCM

15. Pain and Suffering in the Elderly Population
Suzanne Frederick, MSN, RN

16. Life Care Planning and Chronic Pain
Randall Thomas, PhD, CRC, NCC

17. The Expert Fact Witness
Patricia Iyer, MSN, RN, LNCC

18. Trial Exhibits: Legal and Strategic Considerations
Patricia Iyer, MSN, RN, LNCC, Stephen Appelbaum, CEP, EPIC, and John M. Parisi, Esq.

19. Trial Exhibits: Preparation and Use
Patricia Iyer, MSN, RN, LNCC, Stephen Appelbaum, CEP, EPIC, and John Parisi, Esq.

20. Ante-Mortem Damages
Tom Vesper, Esq.

21. A Defense Attorney's Perspective
J. Michael West, Esq. and Thomas C. Broderick, Esq.

22. A Plaintiffs' Attorney's Perspective
Thomas Duffy, Esq.

Index