Nurse-led post-thoracic surgery pain management programme: its outcomes in a Nigerian Hospital

The overarching aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a nurse-led pain management programme on pain intensity, side effects of treatment, shoulder range of motion and length of stay after thoracic surgery.

Post-thoracic surgical pain is a major source of stress and distress for patients. It has profound effects ranging from increased risks in developing chronic post-thoracic surgery pain to an increased length of stay after surgery. The post-thoracic surgical pain management in the Nigerian context is based on the traditional approach that is dependent on the attending medical and nursing staff.

The study was a quasi-experimental design (two-group post-test only). The study was conducted in a Nigerian hospital. Forty-two patients were recruited and consecutively assigned into either the usual pain management group or the intervention group after they had met the inclusion criteria. Data were collected utilizing the following: (1) the modified McGill Pain Questionnaire; (2) a Numeric Rating Scale; (3) the documentation form for thoracic surgery pain management outcomes and (4) a goniometer.

The findings indicated that pain intensity, nausea and drowsiness were significantly reduced among the patients in the experimental group than the control group, while the duration of stay after surgery and the shoulder range of motion were not different between the groups.

This study's results suggest that the intervention in question for patients undergoing thoracic surgery had a positive effect on reducing pain intensity, nausea and drowsiness but not the shoulder range of motion and length of stay after surgery.

Nursing policymakers may need to give a serious consideration to the revision of policies related to the nursing education curriculum as well as the in-service training curriculum regarding pain management by nurses especially after surgery. Likewise, future research on other populations employing an improved methodology as well as utilizing up-to-date evidence by nurses across different hospitals may be necessary.