Post-operative pain management by nurses in an intensive care unit: a best practice implementation project

Post-operative pain is the most prevalent type of acute pain. Nurses are the health care professionals who most frequently assess pain, as well as evaluating the patient's response to pain management treatment and monitoring for the occurrence of adverse events. Thus, to improve outcomes and quality of care, the interventions used by nurses should be based on best practices.

The aim of this project was to implement best practices in post-operative pain management in an intensive care unit.

This evidence implementation project was conducted in a hospital for the surgical treatment of orthopedic diseases and trauma. The project followed the JBI Evidence Implementation Framework. The project used JBI PACES software as well as JBI's Getting Research into Practice (GRiP) audit and feedback tools to develop eight audit criteria for the baseline and follow-up audits.

The baseline audit showed that Criteria 3 and 6 had low compliance, with few patients having documented plans and goals, and receiving multimodal analgesia in the ICU, respectively. Criteria 7 and 8, which assessed the use of opioids and follow-up by a pain specialist, revealed compliance of 60% and 50%, respectively. Criterion 3 improved from 0% to 20%. Criteria 6, 7, and 8 also improved, rising to 30%, 22.8%, and 50%, respectively.

The project improved compliance with best practices in post-operative pain management. Further studies are needed to ensure the project's long-term sustainability.