Comfort on the Menu

Brookings Health System has rolled out a new comfort menu for patients who stay overnight at Brookings Hospital. The comfort menu educates patients about available amenities, encourages them to make choices in their treatment plan, and fosters safe use of pain medications. 

Introduced this past spring, the comfort menu enables patients to work together with the health care team to reach individual comfort goals. 

“Keeping patients comfortable during their hospital stay doesn’t always mean focusing on pain medication,” said Medical Surgical and ED Director Karen Weber. “Sometimes it means addressing simple hygiene needs, like hand lotion or dental floss. Other times our team helps patients stretch, take a walk, or administer aromatherapy. We even offer items to help with relaxation, including ear plugs, Do Not Disturb signs, puzzles and playing cards.”

Upon admission to the inpatient care unit, all patients are given a copy of the comfort menu which lists items and services they may request as needed from staff. In addition, the comfort menu lists medication options for pain relief, including alternatives to opioid medications.

“We encourage patients to use the comfort menu first prior to moving to medication,” said Weber. “When it is time to look at medications, we discuss realistic pain management goals with patients. We want to reach a point where they can function with the pain rather than thinking we will be able to completely eliminate it.”

Non-opioid medications available to patients for pain include acetaminophen (Tylenol), ibuprofen (Advil) and naproxen (Aleve). If those medications do not sufficiently help patients reach their realistic pain management goals, opioids are available. 

“Because opioids can be addictive, we need to be very judicious with how we use them during treatment,” said Weber. “Opioids should be started at low doses and stopped as soon as possible for the patient’s safety.”

The options on the comfort menu can also help patients identify relief practices that may work when they return home in place of pain medications. 

Want to learn more about safety and quality of care at Brookings Health System? Visit www.brookingshealth.org/Quality.