Pain Behavior Experienced During Nursing Interventions by Patients on Mechanical Ventilation: A Cross-Sectional Study

The study aimed to examine pain behavior during nursing interventions in patients who were on mechanical ventilation.

The study was carried out in patients who were under treatment at a university hospital during the 2017-2018 period and who were connected to a mechanical ventilator and were unable to communicate verbally. In two intensive cares (n = 165), 568 pain assessments were made before and during nursing interventions (aspirating the respiratory tract, wound care, injection applications, bed bath, perineal care, mouth care, etc.). Patients' sedation levels were determined according to the "Ramsay Sedation Scale" and their pain and physiological parameter were determined according to the "Behavioral Pain Scale." The Wilcoxon-signed rank test was used to evaluate the difference between the pain scores and physiological parameters before and during the procedure. A p-value of < .05 was accepted as statistically significant.

Totally 45.4% of the patients are over age 65, 59.4% were males and 66.1% had chronic diseases. The interventions causing pain score difference was nasogastric intubation, tracheal expiration, nasotracheal expiratory, oropharyngeal expiration, dressing change, perineum care, position change, bed bath, oral care, intravenous catheter application, tracheostomy cannula care, urethral catheter application, and eye care while a significant increase was seen in all physiological parameters during bed bath, perineal care, and nasogastric intubation.

It is concluded that nurses should take some precautions before painful procedures.