Hands cradling a glowing torso, symbolizing pain relief and return to daily life.

Unlocking Relief: Evidence-Based Strategies for Managing Pain and Improving Quality of Life

Rhea Morgan monogram
Rhea Morgan in Health & Wellness November 2026 • 4 min read.

"Discover how advanced practice nurses, multidisciplinary teams, and innovative care models are transforming pain management for chronic pain, trauma, and cancer survivors."


Pain is a pervasive issue affecting millions worldwide, significantly impacting their quality of life. Whether it stems from chronic conditions, traumatic injuries, or cancer treatment, effective pain management is crucial for restoring functionality and well-being. Recent research highlights promising strategies for addressing diverse pain challenges.

Advanced practice nurses (APNs) are at the forefront of pain management, particularly for individuals with complex conditions like co-occurring substance use disorder and chronic pain. Studies emphasize the need for readily accessible information to guide APNs in making informed decisions, minimizing risks associated with prescription opioid misuse, and ensuring patient safety.

Furthermore, multidisciplinary approaches are proving invaluable in managing pain in trauma patients. By integrating the expertise of surgeons, coordinators, therapists, and other healthcare professionals, comprehensive care plans can be developed to address the multifaceted needs of individuals recovering from traumatic injuries.

AI Search Multiple angles on this topic

Research into Alternatives

The Lancet’s eBioMedicine identifies non-addictive pharmacological alternatives to opioids as a growing area of pain-management research. Its summary does not give a prevalence estimate or a specific measure of patient impact. It points instead to ongoing research into options beyond opioids.

Guidance and Its Limits

The CDC’s 2022 guideline provides recommendations for clinicians treating outpatients aged 18 and older, including people with acute or chronic pain, and updates its 2016 chronic-pain guideline. The updated guidance outlines the benefits and risks of nonopioid treatments while retaining the earlier guideline’s principles for judicious opioid use in chronic pain. A separate analysis says limited evidence for specific groups—including women, minorities, acute-trauma patients, and people having elective surgery—or for specific opioid formulations contributed to a one-size-fits-all approach.

The Rise of Pharmacologic Care

A 2018 history of pain management in the United States says care became predominantly pharmacologic during the 20th century. Perceptions that pain was undertreated contributed to increased opioid use, first for cancer-related pain and later for noncancer pain. The same account notes that this expansion did not include the multidimensional care that had been intended, while a 2017 history describes opioids as seeming, for a short period, to offer relief without a high risk of addiction.

The Nurse-Physician Care Team: A Best Practice for Chronic Opioid Prescription Management

Hands cradling a glowing torso, symbolizing pain relief and return to daily life.

The rising rates of opioid addiction and overdose deaths have prompted healthcare systems to re-evaluate prescribing practices and implement strategies to prevent opioid misuse. One promising approach involves establishing nurse-physician care teams dedicated to managing chronic opioid prescriptions.

A nurse-physician care team can play a vital role in monitoring patients receiving long-term opioid therapy. By standardizing prescribing and monitoring guidelines, the care team ensures patient safety and compliance with recommended practices. Key components of this approach include:

  • Opioid Contract: Implementing a written agreement outlining expectations for medication use and potential consequences for non-compliance.
  • Addiction Risk Assessment: Evaluating patients for risk factors associated with opioid addiction and tailoring treatment plans accordingly.
  • Prescription Monitoring: Utilizing multi-state prescription monitoring databases to identify potential cases of opioid misuse or diversion.
  • Functional Assessment: Regularly assessing patients' functional status to determine the impact of pain management on their ability to perform daily activities.
  • Urine Drug Screens: Conducting periodic urine drug screens to ensure compliance with prescribed medications and detect the presence of illicit substances.
  • Longitudinal Follow-Up: Scheduling regular follow-up appointments to monitor patients' progress and address any concerns.
AI Search Multiple angles on this topic

Evaluating Prescribing Limits

A CDC-hosted narrative review reports that guidelines and prescribing limits on opioid analgesics have increased in recent years. It identified 30 studies evaluating limits associated with federal policies and guidelines, state laws, and Medicaid state plans. The review’s stated scope covers multiple kinds of limits; the available summary does not report the studies’ findings or establish whether the limits succeeded.

Side Effects Matter

The CDC’s page on opioid therapy and different types of pain notes that prescription opioids can have several side effects, even when taken as directed. The provided summary does not name those effects or compare particular opioid and nonopioid medicines. It does establish that side effects are relevant when considering opioid use across pain contexts.

The implementation of a nurse-physician care team for chronic opioid prescription management has demonstrated promising results. Patients receiving care through this model exhibit improved compliance with treatment guidelines and experience timely access to necessary medications. This collaborative approach fosters transparency and accountability, ultimately promoting safer and more effective pain management.

Empowering Patients, Transforming Pain Management

The research highlighted in these abstracts underscores the importance of adopting comprehensive and patient-centered approaches to pain management. By leveraging the expertise of advanced practice nurses, multidisciplinary teams, and innovative care models, healthcare providers can effectively address the diverse needs of individuals experiencing pain.

AI Search Multiple angles on this topic

Personalized Options Ahead

eBioMedicine encourages research that explores pain and addiction mechanisms and examines pharmacological and non-pharmacological alternatives to opioids. It also calls for work promoting careful or personalized prescribing. These are stated as research priorities aimed at transforming future pain management, not as established treatments.

Pain and Prescribing Trends

An NBER summary reports that the likelihood of a patient with chronic pain receiving an opioid prescription was around 7 percent in the 1980s and early 1990s. It says that likelihood began rising in the mid-1990s and reached 25 percent by 2015. The summary also reports that diagnoses of conditions associated with chronic pain became more common over the same period.

Team-Based Prescribing

A Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine case study describes an approach with two goals: improving opioid prescribing for pain management and treating patients with opioid use disorder. It emphasizes a collaborative, interdisciplinary, team-based, evidence-based, and patient-centered culture, supported by structural changes. The article’s accompanying PDF reports that physicians wrote 249 million opioid prescriptions in 2013 and that primary care clinicians were the largest prescribers.

Moreover, the implementation of best practices for opioid prescription management is crucial for mitigating the risks associated with opioid misuse and ensuring patient safety. Nurse-physician care teams play a pivotal role in this effort, providing ongoing monitoring, assessment, and support to patients receiving long-term opioid therapy.

Ultimately, the goal of pain management is to empower patients to regain control over their lives and improve their overall well-being. By embracing evidence-based strategies and fostering collaborative partnerships between healthcare providers and patients, we can create a future where pain is effectively managed, and individuals can thrive.

Pain and disability changes with CBT

  • 0.44After intervention, CBT showed greater improvement than other therapies in disability (SMD −0.44), pain (−0.32), fear avoidance (−1.24), and self-efficacy (0.27).[1]

What the comparisons show-and leave uncertain

The CBT results point to improvement across several outcomes, but the excerpts describe different comparisons and measures. They do not establish that the results transfer to every therapy, patient group, or care setting.[1] [2]

The trauma-focused therapy results suggest that pain and post-traumatic symptoms can both shift in the comparisons reported. However, the evidence across those comparisons was rated low or very low, reflecting inconsistent results, limited sample sizes, and imprecise estimates.[3]

The single stepped-therapy comparison does not establish that starting with nonopioids produces better long-term outcomes generally; the guideline found no other intermediate- or long-term trials directly comparing opioids with nonopioid therapies.[4]

How the evidence varies across pain contexts

Reported chronic-pain prevalence varies widely across regions: the reviewed ranges were 11%–40% in US data, 13%–51% in developing countries, 23%–76% in Brazil, 7%–61% in Asia, and 8.7%–64% worldwide. These ranges differ in scope and are not a single directly comparable estimate.[5]

For cancer pain, the stated aim is relief sufficient to support an acceptable quality of life. A review of mind–body therapies frames them as having a mechanism different from analgesic pain management, but that rationale alone does not establish comparative effectiveness.[6] [7]

Questions the evidence leaves open

  • How do unwanted effects compare with benefits when so few studies report usable harms information and adverse effects are often incompletely recorded?[2] [8]
  • How should chronic low back pain be distinguished in research that includes recurring pain as well as continuous pain? The cited review defines it as lasting at least three months or recurring more than twice in a year.[8]

Sources

  1. Evaluation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Improving Pain, Fear Avoidance, and Self-Efficacy in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
  2. What are the benefits and risks of psychological therapies for adults with persistent and distressing pain that is neither cancer-related nor a headache? | Cochrane (www.cochrane.org)
  3. Systematic review and meta-analyses of nonpharmacological interventions for co-occurring chronic pain and posttraumatic stress disorder (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
  4. CDC Clinical Practice Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Pain — United States, 2022 | MMWRMinusSASstats (www.cdc.gov)
  5. Chronic pain in European adult populations: a systematic review of prevalence and associated clinical features (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
  6. WHO Guidelines for the pharmacological and radiotherapeutic management of cancer pain in adults and adolescents (www.who.int)
  7. Are mind–body therapies effective for relieving cancer‐related pain in adults? A systematic review and meta‐analysis (pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
  8. Exercise for treatment of chronic low back pain | Cochrane (www.cochrane.org)

About this Article -

Written with AI assistance from published research, and reviewed by the Mystum team. See our About page for more information.

Everything You Need To Know

1

Why is pain management so important?

Pain management is crucial because it significantly affects an individual's quality of life. Effective strategies restore functionality and overall well-being, whether pain comes from chronic conditions, traumatic injuries, or cancer treatments. Without proper management, individuals may struggle with daily activities, experience reduced mental health, and face difficulties in social interactions. Therefore, the goal of pain management is to alleviate suffering and help individuals regain control over their lives.

2

What is the role of advanced practice nurses in pain management?

Advanced practice nurses (APNs) are pivotal in pain management, particularly for those with complex conditions like co-occurring substance use disorder and chronic pain. The role of APNs involves making informed decisions, minimizing risks associated with prescription opioid misuse, and ensuring patient safety. They can provide comprehensive care plans that address multifaceted needs, which has implications on improving patient outcomes, reducing healthcare costs, and enhancing overall quality of life.

3

How do multidisciplinary approaches improve pain management?

Multidisciplinary approaches integrate the expertise of healthcare professionals such as surgeons, coordinators, and therapists to create comprehensive care plans. These plans address the multifaceted needs of individuals recovering from traumatic injuries. This collaborative strategy ensures that patients receive holistic care, encompassing physical, psychological, and social aspects of their recovery. Implications include improved patient outcomes, reduced complications, and enhanced patient satisfaction. This approach ensures comprehensive and patient-centered care, reflecting the holistic approach to address the diverse needs of individuals.

4

What is a nurse-physician care team?

A nurse-physician care team is a collaborative approach designed to manage chronic opioid prescriptions effectively. The team monitors patients receiving long-term opioid therapy, standardizing prescribing and monitoring guidelines. Key components include an Opioid Contract, Addiction Risk Assessment, Prescription Monitoring, Functional Assessment, Urine Drug Screens, and Longitudinal Follow-Up. By implementing these components, the team promotes safer and more effective pain management by ensuring patient safety and compliance with recommended practices. This team fosters transparency and accountability, ultimately promoting safer and more effective pain management, which leads to improved patient outcomes.

5

What are the benefits of a nurse-physician care team?

Implementing a nurse-physician care team offers improved compliance with treatment guidelines and timely access to necessary medications. The key components, such as an Opioid Contract, Addiction Risk Assessment, Prescription Monitoring, Functional Assessment, Urine Drug Screens, and Longitudinal Follow-Up, contribute to a safer environment. The focus on monitoring and patient safety can lead to reduced rates of opioid misuse and diversion. This model ultimately promotes a healthcare system that is more responsive and focused on achieving the best results for the patient.

Newsletter Subscribe

Subscribe to get the latest articles and insights directly in your inbox.