The pain care unit is responsible for the daily supervision of patients who have been admitted to the various departments at the hospital with complicated tractable pain conditions. The quality of the pain treatment at the various wards is continually maintained by feedback and "bedside education", as well as with regular meetings between the nurses from the Centre for Pain and Complex Disorders and the pain nurse contacts at the wards in question.
The Pain care unit consists of
• An attending anaesthesiologist
• An intensive care nurse
• A nurse anaesthetist
• An assistant resident
Particularly when chronic pain patients are concerned we bring in psychologists, psychiatrists, manual- and or psychomotor physiotherapists when needed.
For patients with a different kind of pain, whether cancer, sub acute or chronic, the physician in charge of the patient at the ward has to write a referral to the Pain Care Unit to ensure a well-functioning collaboration.
In 2005 we received more than 300 referrals, of which 123 were cancer patients, 121 acute and sub acute as well as 142 patients with chronic pain. 42 of these patients were followed up by our centre's polyclinic after being discharged from the hospital. In addition to this there is the enormous daily task of following up on postoperative pain patients who do not need a referral.