• Claire J Han, Nai-Ching Chi, Soojeong Han, George Demiris, Debra Parker-Oliver, Karla Washington, Margaret F Clayton, Maija Reblin, and Lee Ellington.
• Biobehavioral Cancer Prevention and Control Training Program, University of Washington, School of Public Health, Seattle, Washington, USA. Electronic address: jyh0908@uw.edu.
• J Pain Symptom Manage. 2018 May 1; 55 (5): 1296-1303.

ContextFamily caregivers (FCGs) of hospice cancer patients face significant challenges related to pain management. Addressing many of these challenges requires effective communication between FCGs and hospice nurses, yet little empirical evidence exists on the nature of communication about pain management between hospice nurses and FCGs.ObjectivesWe identified ways in which FCGs of hospice cancer patients communicated their pain management challenges to nurses during home visits and explored nurses' responses when pain management concerns were raised.MethodsUsing secondary data from audio recordings of hospice nurses' home visits, a deductive content analysis was conducted. We coded caregivers' pain management challenges and immediate nurses' responses to these challenges.ResultsFrom 63 hospice nurse visits, 101 statements describing caregivers' pain management challenges were identified. Thirty percent of these statements pertained to communication and teamwork issues. Twenty-seven percent concerned caregivers' medication skills and knowledge. In 52% of the cases, nurses responded to caregivers' pain management challenges with a validating statement. They provided information in 42% of the cases. Nurses did not address 14% of the statements made by caregivers reflecting pain management challenges.ConclusionTo optimize hospice patients' comfort and reduce caregivers' anxiety and burden related to pain management, hospice nurses need to assess and address caregivers' pain management challenges during home visits. Communication and educational tools designed to reduce caregivers' barriers to pain management would likely improve clinical practice and both patient- and caregiver-related outcomes.Copyright © 2018 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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