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How do intensive care nurses assess patients' pain?
Fatma Eti Aslan1, Aysel Badir, Deniz Selimen
1School of Nursing, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Nursing in Critical Care
|May 10, 2003
Summary
Assessing pain in critical care patients is challenging for nurses, especially with communication barriers. Improved nursing education is crucial for effective pain evaluation and management in these complex cases.
Area of Science:
- Nursing
- Critical Care Medicine
- Pain Management
Background:
- Pain assessment in critical care is often hindered by patient communication difficulties.
- Limited research exists on critical care nurses' attitudes towards pain assessment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine critical care nurses' approaches to assessing patient pain levels.
- To evaluate challenges in nursing diagnosis for patients with communication impairments.
Main Methods:
- A questionnaire was used to assess nurses' attitudes regarding patient pain.
- The study included 91 critical care nurses recruited in early 2002.
Main Results:
- 44% of nurses viewed patient pain as undesirable; 70.3% administered analgesics without prior investigation.
- 85.7% believed patients offer the most accurate pain evaluation.
- 39.6% lacked knowledge for evaluating pain in complex cases; 37.4% relied on behavioral monitoring.
Conclusions:
- Many critical care nurses struggle to evaluate pain in non-communicative patients.
- There is a significant need for enhanced nursing education and training in pain assessment and management within critical care settings.