Pain Management

The pre-operative stage is an important phase in patient’s surgery process. This is the time where the patients is experiencing a lot of anxiety issues and have questions regarding the impending procedure. To help ensure good patient outcomes, it is imperative to provide complete preoperative instructions and discharge instructions (Allison & George, 2014). It is the nurses’ duty to safe guard and protects the patient’s welfare during the surgical experience. Effective preoperative preparation is known to enhance postoperative pain management and recovery. Health professionals need to be cognizant of the contextual factors that influence patients’ preoperative experiences and give context appropriate care (Aziato & Adejumo, 2014).

The practice of patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) has been around for approximately four decades now. During this time there have been improvements to the technology and the understanding of how to use this form of patient pain control; however, there continues to be concern related to the safety and efficacy of PCA. As this analysis proceeds it will briefly explain what PCA is and how it is used, then delve into the benefits and the safety issues surrounding PCA use as it pertains to the patient and the nurse. Some of the benefits of PCA include improved pain management, improved use of nursing resources, increased patient satisfaction, and reduced pulmonary issues (Hicks, Sikirica, Nelson, Schein & Cousins, 2008). Some of the safety

According to surveys, up to 80% of patients reported moderate to severe post-surgical pain, which can sometimes be left undertreated (Sinatra et al., 2005). Postoperative pain is generally managed with opioids, which carry numerous side effects. Side effects can be bothersome and possibly cause a delay in the postoperative healing process (Beard, Leslie, & Nemeth, 2011). IV acetaminophen can possibly decrease opioid consumption, minimize side effects, increase patient satisfaction, and decrease costs (Wininger et al., 2010). The purpose of this paper is to dive further into the research to present data on the effectiveness of IV acetaminophen in decreasing opioid usage and whether it produces an additive effect causing more effective pain management in the postop patient.

Despite recent advances in information regarding perioperative care, postoperative pain continues to go undermanaged. Postoperative pain is the pain patients experience after a surgical procedure. According to Gan, 80% of all people who undergo surgeries experience postoperative pain, and 75% of them rate their pain at a moderate, severe, or extreme level (as cited by Cooney, 2016). Furthermore, inadequately managed pain can lead to patient dissatisfaction, decreased patient outcomes, and overall higher cost of care (Penprase, Brunetto, Dahmani, Forthoffer & Kapoor, 2015). In order to provide higher quality pain management,

Postoperative surgical pain can often be moderate to severe leaving the client in a state of discomfort that requires the administration of opioid analgesic medications. Morphine intravenous (IV) patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) is commonly provided through a pump to treat postoperative surgical pain, but with advances in the medication administration field, a fentanyl iontophoretic transdermal system (ITS) has become another popular method (Lindley, Pestano, & Gargiulo, 2009). Morphine and fentanyl are similar medications in that they are both opioid analgesics and are both equally effective to reduce pain, but they offer differences through their administration techniques, comfort for the client, and providing care in a timely manner by the nurse. The nurse must take into consideration these differences to choose the proper medication for their specific client.

Some papers have been published to address the concern of the rate of hospital readmissions in the geriatric population. Simmons et tal. points to the fact that insufficient pain management is one of the most common factors leading to hospital readmission (Simmons). While evidence is limited, there is some indication that pain is poorly evaluated and poorly treated in older adults across a variety of settings including SNF. This leads to higher rates of hospital admissions and readmissions. Also, when care is transitioned to SNF, important clinical information is often times not sent in a timely manner. This lacking information can include pain severity and how it was managed in the hospital, which leads to a lack of timely, sufficient pain management at the SNF site (Simmons). Compounding this issue is the fact that older adults are more likely than younger

Chronic, acute, somatic and oncologic are all types pain - each with their own symptoms, reliefs, and evaluations. As pain has been explored, we have learned more about it; however, it remains an anomaly. In the postoperative setting, nurses are the first line of pain management. Their assessments of the patient’s pain, including questions and scaling is imperative when dosing medications and evaluating the patient. Studies continue to determine that healthcare providers undertreat and mismanage pain control and assessment. According, to the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians, “80% to 90% of physicians have had no formal training in prescribing controlled substances, and only five out of one hundred thirty-three medical schools in the U.S. have required courses on pain management” (Glowacki, p. 37). The American Nurse Credentialing Center reported that “as of 2013, only one thousand six hundred seventy two registered nurses in the U.S. were certified in pain management” (Glowacki, p. 37). According to the CDC, about 50% of postoperative patients report unrelieved pain (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). Effective postoperative pain control is necessary for successful care and treatment. Inadequate relief of postoperative pain can contribute to postoperative complications such as atelectasis, deep vein thrombosis, and delayed wound healing (Francis &

The management of postoperative pain has received much interest nowadays. The intensity of postoperative pain depends on many factors such as type and duration of the surgery, type of anesthesia and analgesia used, and the patient’s mental and emotional status (11).

The major concepts of this theory are defined theoretically since the use of these definitions is from a broader theoretic concept. Therefore, an operational concept could be developed from them. There is consistency in the use of these concepts throughout the theory of acute pain management with examples given using the same language as well as maintaining the integrity of the concepts.

A prospective randomized, blinded clinical trial was performed by Schroer W.C. to evaluate the efficacy of liposomal bupivacaine for better pain control against bupivacaine HCL. Patients (n= 111) undergoing TKAs were randomized to receive liposomal bupivacaine vs bupivacaine HCL. 58 patients received 266mg (20cc) liposomal bupivacaine mixed with 75mg (30cc) 0.25% bupivacaine, and 53 patients received 150mg (60cc) 0.25% bupivacaine. A result of the study was generated by accessing visual analog pain (VAS) scores and narcotic use post-operatively. There were no VAS pain score differences between study group patients vs control group. As on POD1: 4.5/4.6 (P=0.73); POD2: 4.4/4.8 (P=0.27); and POD3: 3.5/3.7 (P=0.58). Narcotic use was similar during

According to John Hopkins Medicine (n.d.), pain is an uncomfortable feeling that tells you something may be wrong. It can be fixed, throbbing, stabbing, aching, pinching, or described in many other ways. Pain is categorized as either acute or chronic. Acute pain is usually severe and brief, and is often a signal that your body has been injured. Chronic pain can vary from mild to severe and is there for long periods of time (John Hopkins Medicine, n.d). This paper will discuss a scenario that entails which person is experiencing the most pain, how two people can have the same procedure experience different levels of pain, factors that contribute to each person’s pain level, and two complementary/alternative methods of pain control.

In a systematic review performed by Liu et al. [4], the usefulness of this analgesic method was confi rmed during several painful surgical procedures, such as thoracic, cardiac, gynecological, or spinal surgeries. Th e success of this technique may be related to the nature of surgery and also to the level

The International Association for the Study of Pain defines pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage” (1979). Pain is actually the culprit behind warranting a visit to a physician office for many people (Besson, 1999). Notoriously unpleasant, pain could also pose a threat as both a psychological and economic burden (Phillips, 2006). Sometimes pain does happen without any damage of tissue or any likely diseased state. The reasons for such pain are poorly understood and the term used to describe such type of pain is “psychogenic pain”. Also, the loss of productivity and daily activity due to pain is also significant. Pain engulfs a trillion dollars of GDP for lost work time and disability payments (Melnikova, 2010). Untreated pain not only impacts a person suffering from pain but also impacts their whole family. A person’s quality of life is negatively impacted by pain and it diminishes their ability to concentrate, work, exercise, socialize, perform daily routines, and sleep. All of these negative impacts ultimately lead to much more severe behavioral effects such as depression, aggression, mood alterations, isolation, and loss of self-esteem, which pose a great threat to human society.

Pain management is exceedingly important in order to provide quality and satisfactory care in clinical practice. Hospitalizations are often stressful for patients and families, and most patients in the hospital are in pain due to their health condition because it can affect all body systems. Such stress on the body can exacerbate health conditions and delay the healing process. Pain control and management is crucial in hospital-setting because pain is associated with many other complications for a patient like decreased mobility, increased risk for falls, depression, anxiety, sleep impairment and isolation which contributes to patient safety (Gropelli, 2013). The patient population on the telemetry/oncology/pediatric floor at Resurrection Medical Center is a diverse group that is always changing and presenting with new cases, many with prescribed pain medication. Pain is subjective and many patients receive medication for their pain; but when does a patient start to abuse their pain medication and rely on it. A noticeable problem on the 4S unit is many patients who are prescribed pain medications as needed are dependent of them. Patients know precise times their pain medication is scheduled and demand it around the clock. Using nonpharmacological pain techniques can be an alternative, safe, effective method in managing patients’ pain. Maintaining a staff who understand the advantages and utilize a nonpharmacological pain management plan will benefit the

Engwall (2009) defined pain as a "symptom and a warning that something is wrong in an organism” (p 370). Rathmell et al., (2006) maintained that fear of uncontrolled pain can be a traumatic situation for a patient undergoing surgery. Moreover, Pellino, et al (2005) sustained that “pain is a multidimensional experience, consisting of not only physical stimuli but also psychological interpretations of pain” (p. 182). Alleviating peri-operative pain is traditionally achieved with the use of pharmacological interventions. analgesia can incur undesirable side-effects like drowsiness, nausea and vomiting. Controlling the pain by complimenting analgesics with the use of non-pharmacological interventions, might ameliorate patients’ response to pain with fewer resultant side-effects. Thus, the need to evaluate the effect of non-pharmacological measures such as music, relaxation, hypnosis and others is highly solicited in the evolving heath system (Pyati & Gan, 2007).