Pain management nursing : official journal of the American Society of Pain Management Nurses
-
Pain is a subjective and multidimensional experience often inadequately managed following surgery. Postoperative pain has been shown to correlate with hospital length of stay (HLOS) and hospital complications. Given advancements in preemptive pain management approaches, reevaluation is necessary. ⋯ Pain intensity post colorectal surgery was not a risk factor for extended HLOS or in-hospital complications. In contradistinction, tending to patient needs, adequate analgesic use, and reducing infection rates can shorten HLOS, improve health outcomes, and economize health care resources.
-
Chronic low back pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal disorders in different countries. ⋯ Personal, psychological, and psychosocial parameters can be among the most critical predictors in the chronicity of acute and subacute nonspecific LBP. Hence, paying attention to all the mentioned factors at the beginning of patients' treatment to create a targeted treatment algorithm and prevent the conversion of acute and subacute into chronic LBP has particular importance.
-
Acupuncture and acupressure are not being systematically used in the management of postoperative nausea and vomiting and pain, despite being included in the guidelines. ⋯ Positive attitudes are reported by Australian doctors and nurses toward AA. This is despite of low levels of knowledge or personal exposure to AA. Further studies are required to explore the implementation of barriers and address respondent calls for further education.
-
The public health crisis of chronic pain has only increased in recognition since the Institute of Medicine's (IOM) Relieving Pain in America (2011) called for a cultural transformation in the way pain is viewed, treated, and put forward specific recommendations for action. The National Pain Strategy (NPS) provides a roadmap for putting these recommendations into practice. We implemented a program that placed nurses and behavioral specialists at the head of an interdisciplinary team utilizing best practices. ⋯ This program promoted professional growth in nurses along with fostering success for patients. Compared with patients receiving usual care, patients in the program achieved greater reductions in pain severity, pain-related disability, and pain-related functional interference and reported greater satisfaction with pain-related care and primary care services. This article will detail the NPS-aligned practice approaches these nurses and their teams used, describe the training for the nurses, and speak to opportunities to enhance the nurse's capacity for this role in hopes of providing a model for the future implementation of an NPS-based approach by nurses.
-
Neuropathic pain medications are included in multimodal postoperative analgesic strategies, but quality of perioperative pain is rarely assessed. ⋯ Pain quality should be assessed with valid, reliable, and developmentally appropriate tools. Visual analytics help illustrate pain quality at single points in time and longitudinally and may be helpful in guiding postoperative pain treatment.