Person-Centered Pain Management in Nursing Homes: A Qsource Case Study

Pain management in skilled nursing facilities is not just a clinical issue. It affects quality of life, resident satisfaction, medication safety, care planning, documentation, and daily staff decision-making. When pain is not assessed and managed through a person-centered approach, facilities may become overly reliant on medication without fully exploring comfort strategies that better reflect each resident’s needs, preferences, and goals.

Qsource’s Pain Management and Opioid Safety Collaborative shows how structured support can help nursing homes reduce risk while improving the resident experience. Funded through Civil Monetary Penalty reinvestment funds, this Tennessee-wide initiative helped skilled nursing facilities reduce reliance on opioids and adopt more individualized, non-pharmacological approaches to pain management.

Participating facilities received education on opioid alternatives, non-pharmacologic pain management, documentation of specific pain indications, PEG pain scale use, comfort menu implementation, pharmacy review, and care plan revision. Qsource supported the work through clinical pharmacy consultation, nursing education, and quality improvement guidance.

The approach was practical and resident-focused. Instead of treating pain management as a medication-only issue, facilities were encouraged to identify what brought comfort to each resident. For some, that meant music therapy. For others, it meant familiar foods, sensory comfort, repositioning, or other personalized interventions that could be incorporated into the care plan.

The results were meaningful. Many participating facilities discontinued all opioid use for select residents, while also documenting improvement in resident satisfaction with pain management. Facilities introduced non-opioid comfort measures such as music therapy, chocolate pudding, and other individualized interventions. Just as important, specific pain indications began guiding medication use and care planning, helping teams make safer and more intentional clinical decisions.

The lesson for nursing home leaders is clear: small, resident-specific changes can have a powerful impact when they are paired with clinical oversight, documentation support, and quality improvement coaching. Person-centered pain management is not only about reducing opioid use. It is about building a stronger system of care that supports safety, dignity, and quality of life.

Participating facilities described the impact in their own words:

“We’ve successfully discontinued all our opioids and revised plans of care to support non-opioid alternatives.”

“Music therapy helped distract residents from pain; they’re eating better and happier overall.”

These outcomes reflect Qsource’s broader commitment to helping healthcare organizations improve care through practical guidance, clinical expertise, and sustainable quality improvement strategies.

Explore more examples of Qsource’s work through our testimonials and case studies:
https://www.qsource.org/testimonials