The hospice nurses performance in both cancer pain assessment and management recommendations exceeded that of resident housestaff physicians 2 and family physicians 16 a focused pain history is extremely important in the assessment of a cancer patient with pain hospice nurses performed well in obtaining specific items of pain intensity pain relieving factors and pain location the . A quick review of the epidemiology of cancer and the physiology of pain begins the book this is followed by a description of how to assess cancer patients and how to evaluate their pain an adequate amount of text is also devoted to reviewing different types of cancers their symptoms and potential sources of pain complaints. The guidelines for the management of cancer pain were developed by the world health organization who in 1986 2 but there is substantial evidence that the management of cancer pain is still often suboptimal 3 5 since cancer pain is not a homogenous entity correct pain assessment is essential for obtaining satisfactory management cancer pain is a general term for a large. Pain is often the most prevalent symptom among cancer patients referred to hospice or palliative care programs this study was designed to use performance based testing to evaluate the skills of hospice nurses in assessing the severe pain of a cancer patient and the pain management recommendations they would present to the patients primary care physician twenty seven hospice nurses ranging in experience from 1 month to 10 years were presented with the same standardized patient with