Clinical Skills Workshop
Pain Management Course for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals
A three hour, face to face workshop on assessing pain accurately and managing it well, including patients who cannot tell you what they are feeling. Built for clinical practice, not for exam theory.
Single session, full course
$ 450 per person
- 3 hours, completed in one session
- Face to face at our Revesby training centre
- Validated assessment tools you can use next shift
- Small group, case based discussion
Nursing
Clinical Skills Workshop
Pain management training is one of the few areas where a small change in practice shows up immediately in patient outcomes. ANATE’s pain management course teaches clinicians how to assess pain systematically, choose an approach that matches the type of pain in front of them, and evaluate whether it actually worked. The workshop runs for three hours, face to face, in small groups at our Revesby training centre.
What is a pain management course?
A pain management course teaches healthcare professionals to identify what kind of pain a patient is experiencing, measure it with a validated tool, apply appropriate pharmacological and non pharmacological strategies within their scope of practice, and reassess to confirm the response. It is a clinical skill built on assessment rather than on knowing a longer list of medications.
Training in this area is offered at very different levels in Australia, from multi year specialist medical programs through to university postgraduate degrees and short clinical workshops. ANATE sits at the practical end: a single session aimed at the bedside decisions that nurses, carers and allied health staff make every shift.
Training in this area is offered at very different levels in Australia, from multi year specialist medical programs through to university postgraduate degrees and short clinical workshops. ANATE sits at the practical end: a single session aimed at the bedside decisions that nurses, carers and allied health staff make every shift.
What you will learn
Understanding pain
- Nociceptive, neuropathic and nociplastic pain, and why the category changes the response
- Acute pain, chronic pain, breakthrough pain and referred pain
- Why two patients with identical injuries report entirely different pain levels
- How untreated pain affects mobility, sleep, healing, mood and length of stay
Assessment and validated tools
- Structured pain history using a systematic questioning framework
- Numeric Rating Scale (0 to 10), Visual Analogue Scale and the Faces Pain Scale, and when each is appropriate
- Observational tools for patients who cannot self report, including the Abbey Pain Scale, PAINAD and FLACC
- Functional assessment: what the patient can and cannot do, rather than a number alone
- Red flags that mean escalation rather than analgesia
- Documentation that stands up to audit and hands over clearly
Management and evaluation
- Multimodal analgesia principles and the stepped approach to analgesic selection
- Non pharmacological strategies: positioning, heat and cold, movement, distraction, environment and reassurance
- Opioid awareness: tolerance, dependence, sedation scoring and respiratory risk
- Managing pain in older adults, in patients with renal or hepatic impairment, and at end of life
- Reassessment timing and what to do when the first approach does not work
- Escalating clearly to the prescriber with the information they actually need
This course does not cover administering analgesic medication
Search results for pain management training in Australia mix together two very different things, and the difference matters legally.
One is an accredited unit that authorises a person to administer a specific analgesic agent, most often inhaled methoxyflurane in a first responder or emergency setting. That training is about drug administration and is delivered as a nationally recognised unit of competency.
This workshop is not that. It covers assessment, decision making and the non pharmacological side of pain care, and it prepares you to contribute properly to medication decisions made by an authorised prescriber. It does not authorise you to administer any medication. Medication administration for care staff is covered separately in our HLTHPS006 Assist Clients with Medication course, which is nationally accredited.
One is an accredited unit that authorises a person to administer a specific analgesic agent, most often inhaled methoxyflurane in a first responder or emergency setting. That training is about drug administration and is delivered as a nationally recognised unit of competency.
This workshop is not that. It covers assessment, decision making and the non pharmacological side of pain care, and it prepares you to contribute properly to medication decisions made by an authorised prescriber. It does not authorise you to administer any medication. Medication administration for care staff is covered separately in our HLTHPS006 Assist Clients with Medication course, which is nationally accredited.
October Available Courses
Upcoming Course Dates — Oct 2026
8 Oct Thursday
Pain Management
9:30 am – 12:30 pm
What are the most effective pain management techniques?
Effective pain care is almost always a combination rather than a single intervention. In practice, the approaches that carry the most weight are:
- Accurate assessment first. Treating a neuropathic pain as though it were nociceptive is the most common reason analgesia appears not to work
- Multimodal analgesia. Combining agents that act through different mechanisms gives better relief at lower doses than escalating a single drug
- Regular dosing rather than reactive dosing for predictable pain, so the patient is not chasing it back down
- Movement and positioning. Often the fastest intervention available to a nurse, and the one most frequently skipped
- Heat, cold and physical comfort measures, matched to the type of pain rather than applied by habit
- Psychological and environmental factors. Anxiety, noise, poor sleep and lack of control all measurably increase reported pain
- Timed reassessment. An intervention that is never evaluated is not management
Assessing pain in patients who cannot tell you
The hardest pain to manage is the pain nobody reports. Patients with advanced dementia, delirium, intellectual disability, acquired brain injury, intubation, or profound communication difficulty are consistently under treated, because the standard question of asking for a number out of ten produces nothing usable.
A significant part of this session covers observational assessment: reading facial expression, vocalisation, body language, behaviour change, and physiological signs, then scoring them with a validated instrument rather than an impression. This is the module that aged care, disability and palliative teams typically enrol for.
A significant part of this session covers observational assessment: reading facial expression, vocalisation, body language, behaviour change, and physiological signs, then scoring them with a validated instrument rather than an impression. This is the module that aged care, disability and palliative teams typically enrol for.
Who should enrol
The course is written for clinicians who assess and manage other people’s pain. It suits:
- Registered Nurses and Enrolled Nurses across acute, subacute and community settings
- Aged care nurses, carers and clinical care coordinators
- Disability support workers and team leaders
- Allied health professionals working with painful conditions
- Palliative and end of life care staff
- Overseas trained nurses adjusting to Australian assessment tools and documentation expectations
What to bring and what to expect
Bring photo identification and something to write with. Assessment tools, scoring guides and case materials are provided, and participants leave with reference copies of the tools covered so they can use them immediately at work.
There are no prerequisite courses and no Unique Student Identifier is needed, because this is a professional development workshop rather than an accredited unit of competency. An assessment is completed as a group activity during the session. Participants receive a Certificate of Attendance, which ANATE does not place an expiry date on, and the three hours can be recorded as continuing professional development towards your annual registration requirement.
There are no prerequisite courses and no Unique Student Identifier is needed, because this is a professional development workshop rather than an accredited unit of competency. An assessment is completed as a group activity during the session. Participants receive a Certificate of Attendance, which ANATE does not place an expiry date on, and the three hours can be recorded as continuing professional development towards your annual registration requirement.
Why choose ANATE for pain management training
Most pain training available in Australia sits at one of two extremes. At one end are university postgraduate programs and specialist medical pathways that take months or years and are aimed at people building a career in pain medicine. At the other are self help programs written for people living with their own chronic pain, which are valuable but are not clinical training.
ANATE fills the gap between them: one session, clinically focused, taught by practising clinicians, and built entirely around the decisions a nurse or carer makes at the bedside. Small group sizes mean the session works through the cases participants actually bring with them.
Teams building a broader clinical skill set often pair this workshop with our venepuncture course and cannulation course.
ANATE fills the gap between them: one session, clinically focused, taught by practising clinicians, and built entirely around the decisions a nurse or carer makes at the bedside. Small group sizes mean the session works through the cases participants actually bring with them.
Teams building a broader clinical skill set often pair this workshop with our venepuncture course and cannulation course.
Frequently asked questions
Three hours, completed in a single face to face session at ANATE's Revesby training centre. There is no pre reading and no follow up session.
$450 per person. That covers the three hour session, all case materials, reference copies of the assessment tools, and your certificate of attendance.
No. This is clinical training for healthcare workers who assess and manage pain in others. If you are looking for support with your own pain, speak to your GP about a referral to an Australian pain management service or a self management program designed for patients.
No. The workshop covers assessment, non pharmacological management, and understanding analgesic options well enough to contribute to prescribing decisions and monitor the response. It does not authorise you to administer medication.
Specialist pain medicine in Australia is a medical qualification. It requires a primary medical degree, fellowship of a recognised specialist college, and then a further structured training program in pain medicine. This workshop is professional development for nursing and allied health staff and is not a step on that pathway.
The four P's are pharmacological, physical, psychological and preventative, a framework most often used to help patients build a self management plan across those four categories. Clinicians assessing another person's pain generally work from a structured assessment framework and a validated scoring tool instead, which is the approach taught in this course.
Six tools are covered. Self report tools are the Numeric Rating Scale (0 to 10), the Visual Analogue Scale and the Faces Pain Scale. Observational tools for patients who cannot self report are the Abbey Pain Scale, PAINAD and FLACC. Participants take reference copies away with them.
Through structured observation rather than self report. You look for changes in facial expression, vocalisation, body language, behaviour and physiological signs, and score them using a validated observational tool such as the Abbey Pain Scale. The session covers how to use these tools consistently so that scores mean the same thing across a team.
Yes, and they make up a large share of participants. The observational assessment content is directly relevant to residents and clients who cannot describe their pain reliably.
No. The session starts with pain types and assessment fundamentals before moving into management, so it works for clinicians with no formal pain training as well as those refreshing an existing skill.
No. It is delivered as a professional development workshop rather than a nationally accredited unit. ANATE also delivers accredited training, including the HLTAID011 first aid course and HLTAID009 CPR course.
The workshop represents three hours of clinical continuing professional development. CPD does not need to be formally accredited to be recorded, provided it is relevant to your practice and you keep evidence of attendance. Your certificate serves as that evidence.
Cancellations made at least 14 days before the session are refunded. Inside 14 days no refund is available, because seats are limited and holding one keeps another person out. Payment confirms and guarantees your place.
Yes. Group bookings are available for wards, aged care facilities, disability providers and community teams. Sessions run at ANATE's Revesby training centre. Delivery at your own site can be arranged by special request.
At ANATE's training centre, Unit 18/4-10 Selems Parade, Revesby NSW 2212.
Course details
Course
Pain Management
Price
$450 per person
Duration
3 hours, one session
Delivery
Face to face at our Revesby centre
Address
Unit 18/4-10 Selems Parade, Revesby NSW 2212
Course type
Professional development workshop
Certificate
Certificate of Attendance, no expiry
Assessment
Group assessment during the session
CPD
3 hours
Registration
Online enrolment available
Upcoming dates
TBC
Dates to be confirmed
Contact us for the next session
Pain management training for your whole team
Pain is assessed inconsistently in most workplaces, because staff are using different tools, different thresholds and different documentation. Training a team together fixes that faster than sending individuals one at a time. Group sessions run at ANATE’s Revesby training centre.
Assess pain properly, and treat it once
Book your place in ANATE’s pain management course. Face to face, clinician led training for $450 per person, completed in a single session.
Acknowledgement of Country
ANATE acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work and operate. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples today.
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+61 2 7228 4114
info@anate.com.au
18/4-10 Selems Parade, Revesby NSW 2212, Australia
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