In pain management, inadequately managed pain will surely lead to severe physical and psychological patient outcomes for individual patients and their families. Continual, unrelieved pain can activate the pituitary-adrenal axis, which suppresses the immune system and this will lead to postsurgical infection and poor wound healing. Sympathetic activation can lead to negative effects on the cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and renal systems, predisposing patients to severe events such as cardiac ischemia and ileus. In particular importance to nursing care, unrelieved pain will reduce patient mobility and this will result in complications; for instance, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolus, and pneumonia. Postsurgical complications which are related to lack of adequate Pain Management, negatively affect the patient’s welfare because of extended lengths of stay and readmissions and this will invariably increase the cost of care.
Apparently, any pain which is not immediately felt will indisputably put the patient and family member in a psychological state and this is very wrong in pain management. There are various known psychological responses to pain, and this includes depression and anxiety. The inability to avoid pain can instigate a state of helplessness and even hopelessness. This can predispose the patient to a more terrible depression. Patients who have once experienced inadequate Pain Management could be reluctant to seek medical care for other health problems. 

 Not only do patients and family members do Pain Management effects; but it can also be detrimental to clinics and put them at the risk of legal action. For instance, the current standards for pain management, which is the national standards outlined by the Joint Commission (formerly known as the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, JCAHO), require that pain should be promptly addressed and managed. Having standards of care in place will increase the risk of legal action against clinicians and institutions for poor pain management, and there are examples of lawsuits filed for poor pain management by physicians. Nurses, being part of the collaborative team, are responsible for the management of pain during hospitalization and are liable for legal action. Undoubtedly, hospitals stand at the risk of losing their reputation as well as profit if the pain is poorly managed. Patient satisfaction is strongly tied to their experiences with pain during hospitalization. Evidence has proven that higher levels of pain and depression are linked to poor satisfaction with care in ambulatory settings.