Abstract
The experience of pain is different for everyone and there is considerable variability regarding pain perceptions. The recent opioid epidemic is a major source of stress for patients and clinicians alike. There is a significant need for comprehensive pain assessment and nonpharmacological treatments for pain. However, research suggests that nurses experience barriers related to the assessment and treatment of patients’ pain. Such barriers may include not having enough time to work with patients, subjective pain assessments, medication-seeking behaviors, and lack of support from treating physicians. The current study examined the perceptions of nurses regarding barriers to pain assessment, documentation, and treatments in a midwestern hospital system. A survey monkey questionnaire was sent to nurses working in hospital units (N=111) and regional clinics (N=29). Results suggest that nurses in both hospital and clinic settings are willing to recommend certain non-pharmacologic interventions (e.g., relaxation, stretching) for pain management. Hospital nurses are willing to administer non-pharmacologic interventions at a much higher rate compared to their clinic counterparts. The most frequently cited barrier to assessing pain was a disconnect between patients’ self-report of pain and nurses assessment of patients’ pain behavior. Nurses requested several trainings to enhance competency for overall pain management including education regarding medication-seeking behavior, functional or objective pain assessment, and cognitive and behavioral interventions for pain management. The results of the current study will be used to create an educational program that will be developed and administered to allied health professionals to increase awareness of assessing and managing pain from a more holistic perspective. Additionally, a new pain management model will be proposed that incorporates patients’ self-report of pain, biopsychosocial factors, objective assessment information, and clinical factors. (Topolovec-Vranic, American Journal of Clinical Care, 2017; Winslow, The American Journal of Nursing, 1998).
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