How to use pain scales (numeric, faces, behavioral)
Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.
Pick the scale the patient can use, and use the same one every time.
Step by step
Numeric scale
0 no pain, 10 worst imaginable. For alert adults. [1]
Faces scale
Faces from happy to crying for children and some adults. [1]
Behavioral scales
Face, movement, crying, consolability (for young children) or breathing, vocalizing, body language (for dementia). [1]
Ask about function
Can they sleep, move and breathe deeply? [1]
Reassess
After each treatment, at the expected peak effect. [1]
Record
Score, scale used and response. [1]
Common errors
- Changing scales between checks.
- Using numbers with a patient who cannot.
- Not reassessing.
Practice it in Making Synapses
In Making Synapses you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.
Making Synapses cases that train this skill
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Intussusception
- Sickle cell pain crisis
- Pain after abdominal surgery
- Deep vein thrombosis
- Opioid overdose in the waiting room
191 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library
Sources
- Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)
- OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (reference)
Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts and steps also follow OpenStax, Clinical Nursing Skills (reference). Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.