Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
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Comparative Study
Midwives and gynecologists: knowledge about sterile water injections for pain relief in labor.
Presently, there is great interest in nonpharmacologic methods of pain relief during labor. The aim of this study was to determine whether gynecologists and midwives are aware of the use of sterile water injections for pain relief during childbirth, whether they use this pain relief method, and if not, would they do so in the future. We designed a quantitative, observational, descriptive, prospective and transversal study. ⋯ The results determined that women have more knowledge about the technique (79.3%), whereas only 33.3% of men are aware of it (p = .02). The results of this study showed a lack of knowledge regarding this technique, as well as educational interest in the fact that women have more knowledge than men. Increased use was observed in younger, less experienced professionals.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Can presence of a dog reduce pain and distress in children during venipuncture?
The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of animal-assisted intervention as distraction for reducing children's pain and distress before, during, and after standard blood collection procedure. Fifty children (ages 4-11 years) undergoing venipuncture were randomly assigned to the experimental group (EG; n = 25) or to the control group (CG; n = 25). The blood collection procedure was carried on the children in the EG arm in the presence of a dog, whereas no dog was present when venipuncture was conducted on children in CG. ⋯ Furthermore, cortisol levels were lower in the EG group compared with the CG group. There were no significant differences in pain ratings and in the level of parental anxiety. It appears that the presence of dogs during blood draw procedures reduces distress in children.
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Guidelines for postoperative pain treatment are based on patients' pain scores. Patients with an intermediate Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) score of 5 or 6 may consider their pain as either bearable or unbearable, which makes it difficult to decide on pain treatment because guidelines advise professionals to treat pain at NRS > 4. Educating patients in using an NRS score for pain might improve adequate pain treatment. ⋯ In the intervention group, patients had significantly more knowledge and lower barriers to pain management compared with the control group. We did not find a statistically significant reduction in discordant pain scores when comparing the intervention group with the control group. However, patients in the intervention group had significantly lower pain scores, lower barriers, and more knowledge of pain treatment than patients in the control group.
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Chronic pain is a major public health problem that changes lives and has devastating consequences for the person experiencing the pain, the family, and society. Living with chronic pain is not easy, especially in South Africa where the public health care system, serving 80% of the population, fails people suffering from chronic pain. The purpose of the study was to explore how experiencing chronic pain influenced the daily lives of underprivileged patients receiving nursing care at the palliative care clinic serving a resource-poor community in Tshwane, South Africa. ⋯ Participants' experience of pain tells of severe suffering that hindered them in performing activities of daily living. Participants were confronted with total pain and were caught in a vicious circle where pain was responsible for severe suffering and their suffering added to their pain. However, strong religious beliefs improved pain and gave hope for the future.
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Pain is a symptom pediatric nurses commonly encounter in the hospital setting. Untreated pain can lead to adverse physiologic and psychological effects. This study examines in-hospital pain assessment methods nurses report using and assesses challenges, difficulties, and barriers nurses report to assessing pain in hospitalized children. ⋯ Nurses included comments stressing the importance of pain assessments and their frustration with the current validated measures available. This study adds to a growing body of literature demonstrating a gap between recommended pediatric pain assessment guidelines and reported practice, with nurses showing a resistance to relying on single-item or unidimensional measures to assess and evaluate the rich and complex pain experience. A multidimensional approach involving child self-report, parent report, and nurses' own overall impression based on clinical assessment skills of pain is discussed.