National standards for pain management education now available

The Australian Standards for Health Practitioner Pain Management Education have been released. Developed by the Faculty of Pain Medicine (FPM) of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA), the standards are designed to better equip health practitioners to assess, manage and support people living with pain, regardless of care setting, profession or location.

While pain is one of Australia’s most common, complex and costly health issues, ANZCA said pain management education remains inconsistent across health professional training. The standards aim to improve the way pain is recognised, assessed and managed, ANZCA said, supporting better patient outcomes, more consistent care and a reduction in the personal, health system and economic burden of pain.

By strengthening pain education across the health workforce, the standards are intended to set a national benchmark for high-quality pain management education across all health professions and levels of training. FPM said the standards are the first major deliverable under the National Strategy for Health Practitioner Pain Management Education.

“People living with pain deserve high-quality care, regardless of who they see or where they live. These standards establish, for the first time, a shared benchmark for pain management education across Australia's health workforce,” said FPM Dean Professor Michael Veltman.

“When health practitioners receive consistent, high-quality education in pain management, patients are more likely to receive timely, evidence-informed and person-centred care. That is critical to reducing the burden of pain on individuals, families, communities and the health system,” Veltman said.

"We are calling on education providers, specialist medical colleges, regulators, accreditation bodies, health services, consumer organisations and governments to work with us to embed them into education, training and practice,” Veltman added.

You can download the standards at www.anzca.edu.au/australian-standards-for-health-practitioner-pain-management-education.

Image credit: iStock.com/Jacob Wackerhausen