My name is Marie and I have been a nurse in a pain centre for almost 4 years.
I had the chance to continue my university studies
by doing a diploma in pain management
so it opened doors for me in this pain centre team
to manage chronic pain patients
The objective of the pain resource nurse is to take care of patients with chronic pain
so chronic pain can range from migraine-type pain to ankle algodystrophy
the objective is to take care of the patient in his or her so-called "biopsychosocial" dimension
i.e. not only on the point of his physical pain but also of his moral pain
and of course to have in mind the environment in which it evolves
so this is all that will belong to the field of pain consultation
at the end of this first treatment, it will be possible to
propose one or more therapeutic strategies to patients
so there we can be led to manipulate the management with an aspect
or therapies that are non-medicinal
We at the clinic have the possibility to offer patients
treatment for repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) sessions
First of all, it is always explained to patients that this therapy will
to neuromodulate exchanges at the level of synapses in the brain
the aim being to strengthen pain regulation controls
and of course first of all either to reduce the intensity of the pain
reduce the frequency of painful attacks
or have pain attacks that are less intense
but it also acts on the whole aspect of the quality of life with an improvement of the quality of sleep essentially
possibly an improvement in the state of fatigue
and an improvement in quality of life with patients who find themselves more dynamic
more resilient people who see themselves doing more daily activities than before
I decided to apply for a position as a nurse in the pain centre
to enable me to further my knowledge
in terms of pain on the one hand, since previously
I was a nurse in the emergency department
and there I was more likely to take care of patients who were in acute pain
and the aim was to improve my knowledge
and then take a small interest in the field of chronic pain
this vocation in fact allowed me to discover what chronic pain was
because I realised that I didn't really know what it was
and then it taught me that finally there were pathologies that were unknown
in my patient care pathway
because it's true that in the emergency room, as I was saying earlier, we are more in charge of
of acute pain but I have experienced or learned about other symptoms
or other diseases through assignment to the pain centre.