[Pain management nursing in hospitalized patients with non-oncological diseases]

To assess pain management in patients hospitalized with a non-oncological disease and evaluate factors involved in pain assessment.

A descriptive, cross-sectional study. We reviewed pain episodes documented in the medical records of 105 patients aged>18 years admitted to the medical units of a regional hospital between September and December 2014. Reports of pain episodes were evaluated by assessing 22 variables related to pain management quality criteria.

A total of 184 reports were reviewed. Pain was measured using the visual analogue scale (VAS) in 70.1% of patients (n=129); pain was reassessed in 44.3% (n=54) of patients. Pain reassessment was significantly more frequent in patients aged<70 years, as compared to older patients (53.1 vs. 26.8%, respectively; p=0.01). Pain was more frequently considered to be unrelated to the cause of admission in women as compared to men (50 vs. 25.7% p=0.027). Pain was identified in the patient care plan as a collaborative problem by the nurse for 21.1% of the patients.

Some aspects of pain management should be improved, especially those regarding pain description and reassessment. The age and sex of patients significantly influence the approach of pain.