Patients after major surgery, namely cardiac surgery frequently suffer pain during their postoperative stay in the intensive care unit. Nearly 30% of those patients experience pain at rest and up to 50% experience pain during nursing procedures. Pain experienced by critically ill patients falls into four categories that coexist and overlap: pre-existing chronic pain, acute illness-related pain, continuous ICU treatment-related pain or discomfort and intermittent procedural pain. Moreover, acute pain experienced in the ICU may become a chronic problem after discharge from the unit, as a lifelong ICU footprint. Everyday nursing procedures, including position changing performed in the ICU may be a potential source of pain, therefore there is a clinical need for a simple and easy behavioural pain scale to evaluate this condition in patients unable to self assess pain.