Pain: clinical validation with postoperative heart surgery patients

To estimate the content validity of the nursing diagnosis of pain in postoperative heart surgery patients.

Observation of and interviews with postoperative heart surgery patients (N = 80), 40 experiencing pain and 40 without pain.

The group experiencing pain had statistically different results from the group without pain, with a higher frequency in the following 19 defining characteristics: verbal report of pain, discomfort, fear of reinjury, sleep disturbance, guarding behavior, distraction behavior, irritability, restlessness, facial mask of pain, increased heart rate, immobility, anxiety, loss of appetite, self-focus, withdrawal, impaired thought process, unusual posture, increased blood pressure, and changes in respiratory patterns.

These defining characteristics support the idea that pain is a complex phenomenon of clinical interest to nursing that needs better understanding. Studies using the same defining characteristics in other sample groups of patients with acute and chronic pain might be useful in the refinement of this nursing diagnosis.