Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Project

College/School

College of Nursing

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Project Mentor

Alic Shook

Readers

Mary Shelkey

Abstract

This Doctor of Nursing Practice project aimed to educate caregiving staff on the use of the PACSCLAC-II, a validated pain tool, for residents with advanced dementia unable to selfreport pain. It also evaluated whether training the staff to use the PACSLAC-II enhanced pain assessment accuracy compared to the staff’s clinical judgement when detecting the presence of pain. Participants included on-site caregivers – a nurse, certified nursing assistants, and licensed medical technicians – who provide direct care to residents with dementia. Staff completed an assessment form featuring a Likert scale for staff clinical judgement on one side of the paper and the PACSLAC-II tool on the other side. Only assessments of qualifying residents with a documented diagnosis of dementia were included. The data showed that pain was detected more frequently with staff clinical judgement than the PACSLAC-II tool, though the difference was not statistically significant. These findings, along with the facility’s lack of a structured pain assessment protocol, suggested a need for a standardized approach to pain detection. Implementing an appropriate pain tool could strengthen pain detection and management for residents with dementia. This project underscored the importance of implementing evidencebased practice, such as a validated pain tool, to ensure consistent and objective pain assessment in residents with dementia.

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