Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
-
All nurses care for patients with pain, and pain management knowledge and attitude surveys for nurses have been around since 1987. However, no validated knowledge test exists to measure postlicensure clinicians' knowledge of the core competencies of pain management in current complex patient populations. To develop and test the psychometric properties of an instrument designed to measure pain management knowledge of postlicensure nurses. ⋯ A high decision consistency reliability was identified, with test cut-score of 75%. The final 23-item Clinical Pain Knowledge Test has acceptable discrimination, difficulty, decision consistency, reliability, and validity in the general clinical inpatient nurse population. This instrument will be useful in assessing pain management knowledge of clinical nurses to determine gaps in education, evaluate knowledge after pain management education, and measure research outcomes.
-
Behavioral scales allow for the pain assessment of vulnerable critically ill patients who are unable to self-report. However, validity of the use of such scales is limited in traumatic brain injury patients with an altered level of consciousness as a result of the different way that these patients express pain. Family participation is considered as an important component of pain assessment for those unable to self-report, but research in this area is minimal so far. ⋯ Several factors influenced how behaviors were interpreted by family, including personal medical beliefs and intimate knowledge of the patient's history. The pain behaviors determined by family caregivers can be useful in the pain assessment process of traumatic brain injury patients with an altered level of consciousness. Their input could also be helpful in further development of pain assessment tools.
-
The Joint Commission recommended the Pasero Opioid-induced Sedation Scale (POSS) to minimize opioid-induced respiratory depression. However, there is a paucity of data describing its impact on patient safety. This study assessed the impact of POSS implementation or reeducation on naloxone use in patients receiving hydromorphone. ⋯ When the POSS was used, unintended sedation was likely detected before respiratory depression occurred and before naloxone was required. The lack of change in naloxone use and increased sedation postintervention may reflect that a POSS score 3 or 4 is a better marker of unintended sedation and should be considered as an endpoint instead of naloxone in future studies. The implementation or reeducation of the POSS at six area health-systems resulted in increased documentation of POSS and opioid-induced unintended sedation detection with no change in naloxone use.
-
Phlebotomy causes pain and discomfort to adults. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of the use of Buzzy® on phlebotomy satisfaction and pain relating to the phlebotomy process in healthy adult blood donors voluntarily donating blood. This was a prospective, randomized, controlled experimental study. ⋯ Immediately after entry to the vein, pain levels and levels of phlebotomy satisfaction were assessed in individuals in all groups. A statistically significant difference was determined between the mean pain and phlebotomy satisfaction scores of individuals in the experimental and control groups (p < .05). Results indicate that use of the Buzzy device was an effective method of reducing the pain of phlebotomy and increasing phlebotomy satisfaction in healthy adult male blood donors.
-
Pain is a nursing sensitive indicator and yet pain is often not well managed in both hospital and ambulatory settings. Improving nurse knowledge and attitudes about pain may translate to improved patient outcomes. The objective of this study was to investigate knowledge and attitudes about pain (KAP) in nurses who work in diverse settings, professional and personal characteristics that predict KAP, and whether KAP correlated with patient satisfaction according to Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers (HCAHPS). ⋯ Certified nurses scored higher on the KAP survey, consistent with other studies. This study suggests that having more knowledge and better attitudes about pain may improve patient satisfaction of pain. Further studies are needed that link knowledge and attitudes about pain to patient outcomes.