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ForwardMaking a PAWS-itive Impact: Our Ongoing Journey to Improve Pain Management at UK HealthCare
The Making a PAWS-itive Impact: Our Ongoing Journey to Improve Pain Management at UK HealthCare enduring module is a recording from the live Regularly Scheduled Series held on February 11, 2026. If you received credit for attending this session during the live meeting, please refrain from claiming credit for this module.
Variability in pain assessment and management practices, along with evolving evidence related to multimodal pain and opioid variable dosing strategies, highlights the need for focused education. This activity will address gaps in understanding and application of the PAWS for Pain Initiative to support consistent, evidence-based pain management for both adult and pediatric patients.
Target Audience
UK HealthCare Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses
Learning Objectives
After this session, participants will be able to:
- Explain the goals and intended outcomes of the PAWS for Pain Initiative
- Apply evidence-based pain assessment tools for both adult and pediatric patients in clinical practice
- Analyze current literature supporting multimodal pain and opioid variable dosing management strategies
- Identify opportunities to improve the PAWS for Pain approach to patient care
Kathryn Ruf is the Director of the Office of Pharmacy Value and Analytics at UK HealthCare and an Assistant Adjunct Professor in the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. She is a residency-trained critical care pharmacist with extensive experience in medication safety, perioperative and critical care pharmacy practice, and health system value initiatives. Dr. Ruf has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and presentations and is recognized for her leadership in advancing evidence-based, multidisciplinary patient care.
Paula Halcomb is a Clinical Nurse Specialist at UK HealthCare and an Adjunct Clinical Faculty member at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing. She has extensive experience in trauma and critical care nursing, nursing leadership, and evidence-based practice, with a strong focus on early mobility, ICU liberation, patient safety, and interdisciplinary quality improvement. Dr. Halcomb is a nationally recognized presenter and author whose work has contributed to advancements in trauma and critical care nursing practice.
Mark P. Wolf is a Pharmacist Program Coordinator for Medication-Use Safety and Quality at UK HealthCare and an Assistant Adjunct Professor with the University of Kentucky College of Pharmacy. He completed PGY1 and PGY2 residency training at UK HealthCare with specialization in medication-use safety and policy and leads enterprise and national initiatives focused on medication safety, quality improvement, and high-reliability practices across adult and pediatric populations. Dr. Wolf is an experienced educator and nationally recognized presenter whose work emphasizes error prevention, regulatory readiness, and building a culture of safety.
Paula Halcomb, DNP, APRN, ACNS-BC, TCRN, FCNS
Kathryn Ruf, PharmD, MBA
Mark Wolf, PharmD, BCPS
Disclosure of Financial Interest Summary to Learners
All planners, faculty, and others in control of educational content are required to disclose all their financial relationships with ineligible companies within the prior 24 months. An ineligible company is defined as one whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Financial relationships are relevant if the educational content an individual can control is related to the business lines or products of the ineligible company.
None of the planners, faculty, and others in control of educational content for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies.
The material presented in this course represents information obtained from the scientific literature as well as the clinical experiences of the speakers. In some cases, the presentations might include discussion of investigational agents and/or off-label indications for various agents used in clinical practice. Speakers will inform the audience when they are discussing investigational and/or off-label uses.
Disclosure of a relationship is not intended to suggest or condone commercial bias in any presentation, but it is made to provide participants with information that might be of potential importance to their evaluation of a presentation.
Accreditation
In support of improving patient care, University of Kentucky HealthCare CECentral is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
ANCC credit:
The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 1 nursing contact hour(s).
Available Credit
- 1.00 ANCC (UK Healthcare CECentral)
In support of improving patient care, UK HealthCare CECentral is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), and the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 1.00 nursing contact hour(s).