Journal of nursing care quality
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The American Geriatrics Society has recently published clinical practice guidelines addressing chronic pain in older adults. The guidelines identify current provider-based and system-oriented barriers and recommend practice improvements to enhance routine assessment, pharmacological therapy, and nonpharmacological therapy. Recommended organizational improvements focus on facilitating access and delivery of optimal care for all older adults living with chronic pain. Nurses are encouraged to assess older adults routinely for the presence of chronic pain and to advocate for appropriate treatment when indicated.
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Pain is an important issue in quality of care and is increasingly cited as an outcome used to evaluate effectiveness of nursing care. Research indicates that nurses are not well prepared to care for patients with pain. ⋯ The article describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a pain education program designed to provide clinical nurses with the knowledge necessary to use appropriate pain management techniques. Program content stresses the use of a performance improvement framework for changing clinical practice in individual clinical settings.
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Nationally, the focus on facilities providing effective pain management has increased, yet no funds have been allocated to pain management programs. The article describes a 3-year study whose purpose was to evaluate the effect on nurses' attitudes and behavior of the institution of a multifaceted, low-cost hospital pain management program. ⋯ Nurses were surveyed before and after the pain management program using the 39-item Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey. Results demonstrated a statistically significant increase between pretest and posttest scores.