Patient interview

How to assess pain with a pain history

Other platforms explain it with text and video. In VMS you practice it on the patient.

MD / DOPANursing (NCLEX)EMS (NREMT)
Practice it in VR with Blocky

Pain is what the patient says it is. A structured history guides treatment and shows if it works.

Step by step

  1. Introduce yourself and believe the patient

    Open question: "Tell me about your pain." [1]

  2. Location and radiation

    Ask them to point. [2]

  3. Onset and timing

    When it started, constant or coming and going. [2]

  4. Character

    Burning, sharp, aching, shooting (shooting or burning suggests nerve pain). [2]

  5. Severity

    Score 0 to 10, now, at its worst and at its best. [2]

  6. Function

    Sleep, walking, work, mood. [2]

  7. What helps and what was tried

    Medicines, doses, side effects, other treatments. [2]

  8. Goal and plan

    Agree on a realistic goal and reassess after treatment. [1]

Common errors

Practice it in VMS

In VMS 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.

VMS cases that train this skill

185 VMS cases train this skill: open the case library

Sources

  1. AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities (Core EPAs)
  2. Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)
  3. NBOME COMLEX-USA clinical presentations
  4. NCCPA PANCE Content Blueprint

Facts and steps follow NBOME COMLEX-USA clinical presentations; NCCPA PANCE Content Blueprint; AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities (Core EPAs). VMS is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.