Insight (American Society of Ophthalmic Registered Nurses)
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As an ophthalmic nurse, you may wonder why it is so important to assess and manage the pain, or "fifth vital sign" of cataract surgery patients. How much pain could a patient experience as a result of a relatively short procedure? In January 2004, while reviewing the pain levels of 135 outpatient surgery patients undergoing cataract surgery, 21% of the patients reported pain. Twelve percent (12%) experienced mild pain and 9% experienced moderate to severe pain. ⋯ To improve the quality of pain assessment and documentation, and to meet the hospital compliance rate of 85%, an audit was performed on 60 outpatient cataract surgery charts over a one-month period. An initial compliance rate of 83% was established. After staff education and changes to the critical pathway, a re-audit demonstrated an increase to 95% in pain assessment and documentation.