Use of Tens in Chronic Pain Management and Nursing Care

ABSTRACT Chronic pain is pain that lasts more than three months. Since chronic pain decreases the quality of life, it can lead to significant negative economic effects by reducing the individual's participation in work life and productivity. For these reasons, it is very important to control pain. Pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods are used in pain control. Non-pharmacological methods include complementary applications such as Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS). In the nursing regulation in our country, the use of TENS is shown as a nursing intervention in the segment ‘applied with the decision of the physician and applied together with the physician. TENS is an adjunctive treatment modality that has been widely used in the clinic for many years to manage a variety of painful conditions. In our country, the use of TENS is available in nursing interventions but is not routinely used in care. In its current form in the regulation, it may be recommended that nurses use TENS in the treatment of chronic pain after receiving the necessary training together with the physician. Keywords: Chronic Pain, Nursing, Nursing Care, TENS.