Position Statements & GUIDELINES

A Position Statement is an assertion of the beliefs held, encouraged and supported by ASPMN^®, and adopted in accordance with ASPMN^®‘s bylaws, policies, and procedures. 

Process for Developing, Submitting and Approving ASPMN Position Statements

It should be recognized that these position statements and guidelines are recommendations only and are not codified in law or regulations.

• ASPMN^® Position Statements – Position statements are recommendations for a course of action or statement of beliefs that reflects ASPMN^®‘s stance regarding an issue of importance to safe practice, safe care and optimal patient outcomes.

  • Authorized Agent Controlled Analgesia – (Revised: August 2024)

  • Deceptive Use of Placebos in the Assessment and Management of Pain (Revised July 2021)

  • Disparities, Inequities, and Injustices in Populations with Pain: An ASPMN Position Statement (April 2025)

  • Male Infant Circumcision Pain Management (Revised July 2021)

  • Monitoring for Opioid-Induced Advancing Sedation and Respiratory Depression in Adults (Revised August 2021)

  • Pain Assessment in the Patient Unable to Self-Report (Revised: 2019)

  • Prescribing and Administering Opioid Doses Based Solely on Pain Intensity: Update of a Position Statement by the American Society for Pain Management Nursing (Revised February 2022)

  • Procedural Pain Management Position Statement (Revised 2022)

  • Range Orders in the Management of Pain (Revised November 2023) 
  • Registered Nurse Management and Monitoring of Analgesia By Catheter Techniques  (Revised  2023)

• ASPMN^® Joint Statements – Joint position statements are an assertion of the beliefs held, encouraged and supported but written in collaboration with other external organizations with mutual interest.
  • Pain Management at the End of Life - This is a joint position statement from: American Society for Pain Management Nursing® and Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses Association  (Revised: 2024)
  • Pain Management and Substance Use Disorders – This is a joint statement from: American Society for Pain Management Nursing® and International Nurses Society on Addiction (Revised: 2022)

• ASPMN^® Guidelines - Recommendations to provide information to optimize health interventions (clinical, public health, or policy); clinical practice guidelines include recommendations intended to optimize patient care that are informed by a systematic review of evidence and an assessment of benefits and harms of alternative care options.
  • Guidelines on Monitoring for Opioid-Induced Sedation and Respiratory Depression: Revisions (Approved June 2019)

• ASPMN^® Supported Statements – Supported position statements are statements written by an external organization with content expertise identifying a course of action or statement of belief. These statements are officially supported by ASPMN^®.
  • ANA The Ethical Responsibility to Manage Pain and the Suffering It Causes

• ASPMN^® Position Statement and Guidelines Published Supported Documents published in Pain Management Nursing

• Archived Position Statements – A position statement is archived when it is deemed to be no longer pertinent or significant to current practice is no longer an assertion of a belief held, encouraged or supported by ASPMN^®; and/or if it is no longer in accordance with ASPMN^® bylaws, strategic plan or code of ethics.